Troubled Teen, Troubling Secrets
by babylove969
Summary: Shawn is 15and living with his parents in the trailer park once again. He thought his life would finally be complete with his parents getting back together. Only his dream turns into a nightmare when Shawn finds out that both of his parents have changed in the year they have been gone. Now Shawn has to face a new reality and try to survive each and every day. Warning Child Abuse
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Shawn woke up that morning the same way he woke up every morning for the past three months. He was back with his parents and when his mother and father showed up at Turner's house Shawn couldn't believe it. Turner and Shawn had just been talking about whether or not Turner should sign the guardian papers. They were both worried about making their arrangement permanent. It was a big step for both of them. Turner had never been responsible for someone else before, he never even had a pet. It was a huge step for him to be responsible for someone else. He had never in his life wanted to help someone else, or be there for someone like he did with Shawn. Turner was used to being on his own and doing his own thing. He wasn't used to having to take care of someone. Sure Shawn could handle himself, but still he was a fifteen year old with a lot of problems. His own father abandoned him at the Mathews' doorstep. His mother took off after having enough of Chet and just abandoned Shawn to be with his father. Shawn had a lot of problems from growing up and from the lack of parenting. The only stable people in his life had been the Mathews and even they had a hard time with Shawn. Turner knew it wasn't going to be easy and at times it wasn't, but they had done it. That day when Shawn's parents showed up at the apartment Shawn was thrilled and Turner couldn't help, but be worried and a little sad about it. Turner knew that Shawn would be going back to his parents now and Turner wanted to be happy for Shawn, but he couldn't be. He was worried about them abandoning Shawn again and leaving him more broken then he already was. It didn't take long to pack Shawn's things up and then they were gone.

That had been three months ago and ever since Shawn's life had been slowly going back downhill. When they first got back to being a family everything was going great. They were eating dinner together, watching tv together, hanging out and just having a good time. Everything was normal like it was supposed to be. After that first month and a half everything started to slip. The fighting would start. Chet used to drink a lot and ever since he had been searching for Virna he had slowed down. Now that he had his wife back he was drinking more and more now. Growing up his mother almost never drank and now with Chet drinking she started to drink more and more as well. With them both drinking now, they would argue more and Shawn was always stuck in the middle of it. It started off slow just small arguments here and there. Sometimes his mother or father would be upset and yell at Shawn for something simple, like him not washing the dishes or being late. As the last month and a half had gone by the arguments got more and more. Now it wasn't just when they were drunk it was all the time when they were in the same room. They started to yell more at Shawn over things that weren't even his fault. Sometimes when they were both drunk his mother would throw things at his father. Needless to say the trailer that Shawn was supposed to call home was getting very hurtful. Shawn wasn't a stranger to arguments; he had been in his fair share of them over the years. He was the "troubled townie" as people liked to call him. It wasn't a secret that Shawn was a troubled teen from a troubled past. He grew up in a trailer park and he had fought to survive each and every day growing up from the gangs in the park. There had been a few times when Shawn was at a cross roads where he could turn down the wrong path or he could continue staying on the right path. If it wasn't for Cory Shawn knew that he very could have went down the wrong path and could be in Juvi right now.

Shawn could hear his parents arguing once again and Shawn couldn't even bring himself to care as to why they were. Shawn looked over at the clock radio in his room and saw that it was only six in the morning. Shawn did know one thing he didn't want to be here so he got up to get ready for the day. If he left soon he could be at the Mathews' in time for breakfast. It wouldn't be the first time that Shawn had crashed a meal at the Mathews' and they always allowed him to crash it. Over the years since he had known Cory his parents had always taken him in. Shawn never knew why and was too afraid to ask. Shawn grabbed his clothes and headed out quietly to the bathroom so he could shower and get ready for school. School was the one thing that never changed in Shawn's life and Shawn found himself being more and more thankful for that each and every day. Monday through Friday Shawn would go to school for six hours a day and be able to just be himself and not have to worry about anything. His grades were horrible, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He knew he wouldn't be going to college so Shawn didn't see the point in trying in school. For him it was just a place to hide from all of the yelling. Shawn took a quick shower, because he didn't want to be there for very long. Not even thirty minutes later Shawn was ready for school and ready to leave. Shawn headed out to the front door so he could leave the trailer and the yelling behind. Shawn tried to sneak out without drawing any attention to himself, but his father was always willing to put his mother's anger onto him.

"Boy, where are you going?" Chet asked annoyed and angered as him and Virna stood in the kitchen.

"School." Shawn answered back with a slight attitude to his voice.

Shawn knew he shouldn't have shown any attitude, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't even seven in the morning and he was woken up to his parents arguing again. Shawn could see that they hadn't gone to bed yet and he was annoyed and upset over it.

"Don't talk to me like that boy. Show me some respect now." Chet all, but yelled at Shawn.

"When's that report card of yours coming?" Virna asked.

"I don't know in a few days." Shawn said softly.

Shawn was a little worried about his report card. His mother had been asking about it for a month now, when before she never cared. Shawn knew his report card wouldn't be good at all. He would be surprised if there was more than F's and D's on it. Shawn wouldn't say he was stupid; he just never tried in school. School didn't interest him in that way. It was all about proper grammar, proper spelling, proper this, proper that. Shawn was anything, but proper and he couldn't get his mind into it. He really just didn't see the point. Besides even when he did try he still failed.

"You better not have failed anything or so help me God." Virna didn't finish that sentence and Shawn could hear the threat on the end of it.

"I gotta get to school." Shawn said as he headed his way towards the door, but he could hear his father yelling at him.

Shawn ignored him and just kept going. He didn't want to hear any more about how useless he was and how stupid he was. Shawn just wanted to get away and go someplace where he felt safe and that was the Mathews. It was a little bit of a walk to get to where Cory lived. They did live in different worlds that never were supposed to have connected. Cory always had a great life with a great family. He could tell his parents anything and they would never kick him out or say mean things to him. They would just tell him that it would be alright and that they would work through it. Shawn never had parents like that. He was always afraid to go home and tell his parents if he did something or if something was wrong. With Turner he didn't have to worry about that, because he didn't do anything wrong. There wasn't anything he had to tell him or try to hide. With Turner he just went to school, hung out with Cory and then went home. He even made sure to be home for dinner most nights. Turner was a much better cook then his mother and father were. With his mother's cooking most of the time Shawn didn't eat. In the year that he had lived with Turner he had gained thirty pounds, which at the time he didn't even know he needed the extra weight. Now just three months of being back in the trailer with his parents he had lost fifteen pounds. Shawn never noticed how thin he used to be until he started to live with Turner.

There were times in the last three months that Shawn had missed living at Turner's apartment. It was small and crowded and they got into little spats here and there, because of that, but still Shawn missed it. He missed the connection and friendship that him and Turner had. It wasn't like his friendship with Cory and he didn't know what it was like, but he missed it a lot recently. Turner would push him in his school work at times, but he never got on his case about his grades or his goals. Sure there were hints here and there of the conversation, but he never pushed it. Shawn didn't know what his beliefs were or what his goals were. The truth was he really didn't think about goals, because he didn't see himself being able to be something. He couldn't stop thinking about how he would just be another townie stuck in a meaningless job going nowhere. Shawn had a lot of confidence and self- esteem when it came to women or people, but in himself he didn't really have any. Most of the time he felt like he didn't even know who he was. He always felt like part of him was missing, like there was this hole in the center of his body that everyone could see. He thought what he was missing was his family being a family, but now he wasn't so sure, because now he had never felt more alone.

Shawn walked into the Mathews' side yard and looked in through the side door. He didn't go in right away he just looked through the glass and he could see Morgan and Alan sitting down at the table talking. He could see the back of Amy in the kitchen making breakfast. Shawn knew that Cory and Eric would be upstairs in their room fighting for the bathroom. Shawn figured it was just after seven and the house was awake with people getting ready for school and work. Shawn went over and knocked on the glass as he entered the house. Shawn put on a smile and tried to make it seem like nothing was wrong.

"Good morning Mathews."

"Morning Shawn." Alan said.

"Good morning Shawn. Have you eaten yet?" Amy asked with a smile on her face and lightness to her voice.

"I have not."

"Sit I'll make you some breakfast. Cory is still getting ready." Amy said.

Shawn gave a nod and headed over to the table where Morgan and Alan were sitting.

"So Shawn you're up early." Alan asked.

"Ya couldn't sleep. Set the alarm wrong last night and once that thing goes off I can't get back to sleep. I figured I would go to school with Cory."

It always amazed Shawn how easy it was for him to lie to people. He had been doing it his whole life. He would put on a smile and say that everything was fine even when it wasn't. What Shawn forgot too often was that the Mathews weren't just everyday people. They knew Shawn; they had seen him grow up alongside their son. Setting his alarm wrong once was to be expected, five times in the last three months was not normal for Shawn. Alan and Amy shared a look and they both knew that something was bothering Shawn and they also knew they would probably never get it out of him. Shawn wasn't like Cory. Cory had tells and couldn't keep a secret to save his soul. Shawn was different he could hide something bothering him for months on months without anyone finding out what was wrong. Shawn didn't have tells and that came from a life of having to build walls around himself to protect himself from all different kinds of hurt. They didn't get to say anything, because Cory and Eric came running down the stairs.

"Shawn buddy hey. What brings you buy?" Cory asked as he went to sit down next to Shawn.

"Stupid alarm clock didn't work." Shawn said in a dismissive tone like it was nothing.

"You really gotta get a new one. You getting up on time for school is going to start scaring the teachers." Cory joked like it was nothing for Shawn to be up again this early.

"Oh that will easily be fixed by me sleeping through their class. Problem solved."

Amy came over to the table with some plates of food for everyone. She placed them down on the table and got the rest of them before sitting down herself. The conversation at breakfast was light and easy. It was a pretty normal morning for them. It wasn't the first time that Shawn was there with them for breakfast or any other meal for that matter. Cory and Shawn had been friends since they were six and over the course of nine years they had gotten very close. They were almost inseparable so Shawn being there really wasn't a big deal. Alan and Amy were curious as to why in the last three months Shawn had been there more recently. When he was with Turner for that year they didn't see Shawn for breakfast, a few dinners, but not in the morning. Now that he was back at the trailer park Shawn was here more and more again. Alan and Amy didn't like that Shawn was back with his parents. They both left him and didn't even think twice about it. That wasn't what someone like Shawn needed. He needed stability and parents who would be there for him. That was one of the main reasons why they never turned him away. They really were the closest thing to parents that Shawn had. Once breakfast was done all the kids went upstairs to finish getting ready for school. Shawn stayed down there at the table to wait for Cory. Alan and Amy were in kitchen cleaning up after breakfast. Shawn couldn't help, but watch them working together and not fighting with each other. Shawn couldn't figure out why they were so different compared to his parents. Over the last nine years he had never seen them fight not once.

"Do you guys ever fight?" Shawn couldn't help, but ask. The question was out before he could stop it.

Amy and Alan looked at Shawn and they were starting to figure out why Shawn had been around more. They stopped what they were doing and gave Shawn their full attention.

"Of course we do. All married couples argue." Amy said.

"I've never seen or heard you argue in nine years." Shawn said slightly confused.

"We don't fight in front of the kids. We feel that they shouldn't have to hear or see that. How are your parents doing Shawn?" Alan asked.

"They're great. It's great having them back together." Shawn said, but they could hear he wasn't so sincere about it.

"Do they fight in front of you?" Amy asked.

"No, sometimes I hear them, but it's a small trailer. I can hear the toilet flushing. All married couples argue you said right."

"They do, but your parents shouldn't be arguing in front of you or around you. That's not fair to you." Amy said.

"It's not a big deal. I just noticed that I never heard you guys argue." Shawn said trying to blow this conversation off.

"Shawn you know we love you. If you ever need to talk or need a place to sleep at night you know you can always come here." Amy said.

"Ya I know. Everything is great." Shawn said with a smile, but Amy and Alan didn't believe him.

Cory came down the stairs ready for school and Shawn was thankful that it would end the conversation. Shawn grabbed his book bag and they headed out after saying good bye. Eric went after them a few minutes later and Morgan shortly after that. Amy and Alan waited for when all of the kids were out of the house before they spoke about what Shawn had said.

"Do you think Shawn's parents are arguing a lot in front of him or around him?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. He hasn't been here for breakfast in a year. Now that he is back with his parents he's been here five times. I don't mind Shawn being here and I like that he feels like he can be here, but I don't like that once he is back with his parents, he's back here. Shawn's never set his alarm wrong once in the nine years we have known him. Now in the past three months it's happened five times. Maybe their arguing is waking him up." Alan said trying to make some sense of this.

"Should we tell Jonathan about this?" Amy asked.

"We probably should. Just so he can keep an eye on him."

Amy went over to the phone on the wall and dialed Turner's number. There was no answer and Amy didn't bother to leave a message. She knew that there was another way to get a message to Turner. She hung up the phone and turned her attention back to her husband.

"There was no answer. Let's go speak to George."

They both went out the side door and over to Mr. Feeney's house. Alan knocked and waited for an answer. They knew he would be home, because he didn't leave until eight for school. Mr. Feeney had a class second period so first period he stayed home to do some work before he went in. After a few moments he answered the door.

"Alan, Amy what can I do for you this morning?" Mr. Feeney asked all dressed in his school attire.

"We were actually hoping you could give Jonathan a message for us." Amy said.

"Well of course, but you do know there is this invention called the telephone." Mr. Feeney said.

"We called him, but he didn't answer and we figured he would get the message from you faster." Alan explained.

"Is everything alright?" Mr. Feeney asked with some concern now.

"We're worried about Shawn." Amy said.

"Well we're all a little worried about Shawn. Is there perhaps a new reason?"

"He came by this morning before breakfast." Amy said as if that explained everything.

"I'm not sure I follow." Mr. Feeney said with confusion in his voice and on his face.

"For the past year that Shawn spent with Jonathan he was never here in the mornings. He came by every now and then for dinner when Jonathan was on a date. He's been back with his parents for three months and he's been here for breakfast five times. Each time he said he miss-set his alarm and it went off early and couldn't get back to sleep." Alan explained further.

"Growing up Shawn used to come by for breakfast every few weeks. He stopped when he was living with Jonathan and now he's back with his parents and back to his old routine." Amy added.

"Alright, but the trailer park is closer to your home than Mr. Turner's apartment. I don't see any need for added concern."

"This morning after breakfast when the kids were getting ready upstairs, Alan and I were doing the dishes when Shawn asked if we were argue." Amy started.

"He wouldn't say it, but apparently his parents have been arguing a lot either in front of him or around him." Alan finished.

"And you're concerned about what effect this might have on him?" Mr. Feeney asked.

"Of course. We don't want to see Shawn going back to his old ways. He was doing great with Jonathan. He wasn't running around the streets and getting into trouble. Now that he's back with his parents he's starting to go back to his old ways." Amy said.

"He hasn't changed at all in school. I've never noticed a problem with him. He's lost some weight, but he's walking around a lot more. The trailer park is further from school than Mr. Turner's apartment. I'll let Mr. Turner know and he'll keep an eye out on him. I'm sure Shawn is fine. His parents over the years have broken up and gotten back together many times. I'm sure everything is fine, but I will pass the message along and I'll keep an eye on him." Mr. Feeney said.

"Thank-you. We just don't want to see Shawn getting into trouble again. He's a good kid with crappy parents. We don't want to see him slipping through the cracks." Alan said.

"I'm afraid he slipped through the cracks a long time ago Alan. I've known Shawn since he was in the first grade. He tried back then in school. He tried until he reached the sixth grade. Too many people told him he wasn't good enough and wouldn't go anywhere, so he stopped trying. Now he's in the tenth grade and after this year only has two more years of high school. As a teacher I failed Shawn a long time ago. He's a smart young man, but he just can't get passed the stereotype and what people have said to him." Mr. Feeney said sadly.

"You've only failed him, if you give up on him George. Shawn's a smart kid, it might take him a little longer to understand, but he's a smart kid. He just needs some confidence that he could be something more than his family is." Alan said.

"I don't know what to do about Shawn anymore, but I only have the rest of this year and two more to figure it out. I'll pass the message along to Mr. Turner and we'll let you know if something happens. I must be getting to school now though." Mr. Feeney said.

"Thanks George." Alan said.

"Thank-you." Amy said.

"It's not a problem."

Alan and Amy went back over to their house and Alan started to get ready for work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At lunch time Mr. Feeney went into the cafeteria and sat down at the table with Eli and Jonathan. This was the first time Mr. Feeney had all day to speak with Turner and he wanted to make sure that both teachers knew to keep an eye on Shawn. Mr. Feeney wasn't too worried about him. Over the years Shawn had seen his parents break-up and get back together, so he wasn't too worried about him. By now Shawn was more than used to it. Still he didn't like knowing that Shawn's parents were arguing where he could see or hear them. Mr. Feeney was a little more than old school people would say and he just didn't believe in parents fighting in front of their children. Children shouldn't have to see that. Mr. Feeney sat down at the table.

"Mr. Williams, Mr. Turner."

"Mr. Feeney." Eli said.

"Hey George." Turner said with a smile.

"I have a message for you Mr. Turner from the Mathews. They are worried about Shawn."

"Why?" Turner asked feeling a slight worry coming over him.

Shawn hadn't lived with him for three months, but he couldn't help to still feel responsible for him. He didn't like that Shawn was back with his parents. He didn't think it was a good fit. They just weren't responsible and they didn't seem like they cared about what was in Shawn's best interest. When Virna ran off Chet shouldn't have gone after her, especially for a year. He just completely abandoned his son on the Mathews' doorstep, which wasn't fair to them. They had three kids already and adding Shawn was a lot. He wasn't an easy kid. He raised himself practically so he was used to doing his own thing. Shawn was a troubled teen and everyone knew it. He had a lot of potential he just never could see it himself and that was one of the most frustrating things Turner had to deal with. Shawn just couldn't see it. He thought he would always be nothing more than some dumb townie and Turner couldn't get him to see otherwise.

"He was over there this morning just after seven. He had breakfast with them."

"That's the cause for concern? A teenager eating?" Eli asked.

"Apparently in the three months that he has been back with his parents; that was the fifth time he had been there that early. Each time he said that he miss-set his alarm clock and couldn't get back to sleep." Mr. Feeney continued.

"Well that's a lie. Shawn never miss-sets his alarm and he can always get back to sleep. So what was the real reason?" Turner asked.

"He wouldn't say, but when he was alone with Alan and Amy he did ask if they ever argue. Apparently, his parents have been arguing a lot and it's either in front of him or where he can hear them. Amy and Alan are worried about what effect it might have on Shawn. They don't want him slipping back into his old ways. There was a point in the seventh grade where Shawn could have gone either way. They don't want Shawn to go down the wrong path, because he's back with his parents." Mr. Feeney finished.

"Well he seemed fine in my class today. He slept right through it like he always does." Eli said.

"He seemed fine with me today. I'll keep an eye on him I have him before the end of the day again. I'll talk to him and see how everything is going. I don't like him living there. I wished I would have signed those guardianship papers sooner otherwise they couldn't have been able to take him right back. I'd have a say in it. I'll keep a close eye on him and see if I can get him to open up to me. That's the problem, Shawn lived with me for a year and he never opened up about anything. He just blew it all off. He doesn't know how to trust people and the only people he does trust, are the Mathews' and that's to a certain extent. Cory knew Shawn for nine years before he found out he had an older brother." Turner said.

"Mr. Hunter is definitely not one to share, but never the less we need to keep an eye on him. I've been trying to get him to graduate high school since he was in the sixth grade. I don't want him to lose everything now when he's only a couple years away."

"Do you really think he'll graduate? He needs to have the grades to do it or he's just going to keep repeating the tenth grade." Eli said.

"Yes well, we need to make him realise that." Mr. Feeney said sadly.

"I'll talk to him and see what I can do. I just got to figure out what he's interested in besides girls. If I can find a book that would interest him, maybe I can get him to do an assignment." Turner said.

"I don't think he has an interest in anything." Eli said.

"Mr. Hunter has interests it's just a matter of getting him to talk about them." Mr. Feeney said.

"He lived with you for a year and you don't know of one interest besides girls?" Eli asked.

"No. Shawn's beyond private. He doesn't let anyone in and he doesn't share with you. I could sit there for hours talking to him and in those hours I will have learned nothing. I just need to find a way in."

"Well, let me know when you find one so I can use it. He's a bright young man and I would hate to see him throw it all away." Mr. Feeney said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At the end of lunch Shawn went to his next class and Cory started to head to his own class. Turner went over to Cory as he was walking down the hall to speak to him.

"Mr. Mathews, can I have a minute?"

Cory stopped walking and turned his attention to Mr. Turner.

"Sure what can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering, what are Shawn's interests?"

"What do you mean?" Cory asked slightly confused.

"Well what's he like doing for fun? What does he do in his down time?"

"You lived with him for a year and you don't know what he does?"

"No, I got nothing. Shawn doesn't share. I figured you would have a better idea."

"Well girls..."

"Besides girls, girls I got."

"Well, um…"

Cory tried to think of something, but he came up empty. He has known Shawn for nine years and he had no idea what his interests were besides girls. Shawn knew everything about him and yet Cory couldn't even tell you something more than his favorite color and food.

"I have no idea." Cory said sadly.

"You've been best friends since you were six years old. You don't know what his interests are?" Turner asked slightly worried.

"No, I don't. I didn't even know he had a brother until recently. I never realised that before. I guess I don't really know Shawn. I see him every day we're friends, best friends, but I don't know anything personal about him." Cory said with sadness in his voice.

Cory couldn't figure out if it was that Shawn didn't trust him or if he was a bad friend to Shawn all these years.

"Don't blame yourself Shawn's a private person. He doesn't share with people."

The bell rang and Cory was now late.

"I gotta go to class." Cory said sadly.

Cory went down the hallway and into his class. He felt horrible; he didn't even know his best friend. His best friend knew everything about him, yet Cory didn't know much about Shawn. Cory couldn't help, but feel like Shawn didn't trust him with personal information. Cory would never judge him or make fun of him for it. They were best friends they did everything together and yet Cory couldn't help, but feel like his best friend was a complete stranger to him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was the end of the day and the final bell rang. Shawn was about to get up and leave the class with Cory behind him when Turner's voice called out.

"Hey Mr. Hunter, can I have a minute?"

Shawn turned around to face Turner.

"Sure."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Cory said to Shawn.

"Ya for sure."

Once everyone was out of the classroom Shawn sat down on top of one of the student desks in the room.

"What's up Jon?" Shawn asked.

"I just wanted to check in and see how everything was going at home." Turner asked as he sat down on a student desk as well.

"It's great."

"Ya you're parents getting along? Because they have been apart for a year I would imagine there are still some hard feelings about your mom leaving."

"No everything is great. Well the cooking sucks, but my mom never could cook." Shawn joked hoping to make Turner believe him.

It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Turner about his parents arguing with each other and taking it out on him. He did, but how could he? He left Turner's home to be back with his parents he couldn't let him know that it wasn't working. Him and Turner were looking for apartments together and Turner was going to be his guardian. Shawn couldn't let him know that it wasn't working out like he was dreaming it would be. Turner had his life back now that Shawn wasn't in it all the time. He couldn't do that to him again. Turner laughed at Shawn sad excuse of a joke to make him feel more at ease.

"Well you can always cook. You were better at it then I was."

"I do cook at times."

"Shawn I want to talk to you about something pretty important."

"Ok" Shawn said uncertainly.

"What are your dreams?"

"What do you mean? Like when I sleep?" Shawn asked confused.

"No like what's your dream when you grow up? When I was your age I wanted to be a daredevil. Obviously that changed and now I'm a teacher with a Harley. What's your dream?"

"Why are we talking about this?"

"Because it's important to have a dream. In over two years you'll be out of here and onto something else. So what's your dream?"

"I don't have one."

"You don't have a dream?" Turner asked with a slight sadness to his voice.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Dreams don't come true, so why bother having one?"

"Okay let's try this, if you could have any job in this world, what would it be?"

"I don't know."

"Don't you ever think about the future?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Don't really see the point. It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"You could go to college."

"No I can't and you know I can't. I'll never have the grades for college or be able to pass the SATs. Even if I could get in I'll never make it. I'm not smart enough."

"You are smart enough Shawn; you just don't apply yourself to any of the work. You think you're not smart enough so you don't try, but Shawn you are smart enough." Turner said with force in his voice.

He had never heard Shawn talk like this about himself before and Turner couldn't help, but wonder if this was from his parents.

"No I'm not and there isn't a single teacher in this building that believes that." Shawn said back with the same amount of force.

"I'm a teacher in this building and I believe that. Mr. Feeney believes in you or he wouldn't be trying so hard to get you to do the work. He wants you to graduate and go to college and so do I. Shawn I don't know where this is coming from. You are smart you can do this. But you'll never be able to if you keep bringing yourself down."

"Everyone has been telling me I'm an idiot since the first grade. They all can't be wrong. I accepted it a long time ago that I'm not going anywhere. I'll never go anywhere. I'm a townie for life."

"With that attitude you'll never go anywhere. If you believe otherwise then you will. All you have to do is apply yourself to the work and you'll be able to go to college. Stop with all the negative thoughts and you could be anything you want to be Shawn."

"Sure" Shawn said in a dismissive tone.

He stood up and went to head out the door when Turner's voice stopped him.

"What interests you?"

Shawn turned around to look at him.

"Nothing."

"You find nothing interesting besides girls? Really Shawn? Why won't you share with me? We lived together for a year and for that year you never once shared anything personal with me."

"You didn't care then, why do you care now?"

"I cared about you when we lived together."

"You didn't ask me then, why ask now?"

"Because I want to know you. Just because we don't live together doesn't mean I stop caring about you. I want to know you Shawn. I've shared things with you, why can't you share something with me?"

"Because you'll laugh and make fun of me for it. I'm always being judged because of where I live and who my parents are. I don't need anyone else to have another reason to judge me."

"Shawn I've never judged you and I never will. I care about you. I'm one of the handful of people that care about you. I just want to know you. I promise I won't laugh or make jokes about it."

Shawn let out a sigh and leaned against the door frame. He didn't talk about personal things, because people always made fun of him. They made fun of him because of where he lived, how he dressed, how stupid he was. He didn't want people to have any more reasons to make fun of him. He didn't know why Turner cared so much and all of a sudden. They lived together for a year and now that he doesn't live there he wants to know him more. That didn't make any sense to Shawn.

"I don't understand why after living together for a year that you care now? You never asked me before so why now?"

"Because I should have asked. It's been three months since we've lived together and I miss you. Shawn you changed my world and you changed it for the better. Before I was just a single bachelor doing my own thing. You showed me that there was more to life than just work and women. You are the first person I have ever cared about. I made a lot of mistakes with you in the past year. I didn't know what to do and I had to figure it out along the way. My biggest mistake was not getting to know you better. I want to know you."

"So what are your interests then?" Shawn asked expecting Turner not to answer him.

"I like rock and roll music, motorcycles, I like reading different books, and I like playing pool. What are your interests?"

"You're gonna make fun of me for them."

"I promise you I won't. And if I do then you don't ever have to tell me anything again."

Shawn let out a sigh and figured he would only tell Turner one interest.

"I like playing the guitar." Shawn said softly.

"Okay see that's cool. Why haven't I ever heard you play?"

"Because my guitar was traveling all over the country."

"That's really cool Shawn that you play the guitar. When did that start?"

"I was seven and found one that a neighbour threw away. I fixed the strings on it and I still have it."

"Do you play it?"

"No it's too banged up it doesn't work anymore. Sometimes when the community center is empty I'll go there and play theirs. I don't let other people hear me."

"Why not?"

"Because I've only ever taught myself with a book from the library. I'm not good enough or people to hear."

"I think that is really cool Shawn. What else interests you?"

"I told you."

"You told me one. That can't be the only thing that interests you Shawn. Just tell me one more and I'll let ya leave."

Shawn didn't want to tell Turner about his other interest. He only had one more and he didn't know how he would react to it. Shawn always kept this to himself, because it was something that people would never expect from him.

"Come on Shawn. I didn't laugh at you when you told me about playing the guitar. I won't laugh now."

"I like poetry." Shawn said softly.

"Really?" Turner couldn't help, but be surprised by that. Shawn didn't scream a poetry kind of guy.

"See I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"No Shawn I was just surprised. You don't seem like the type to read poetry. Have you ever written any?"

"Sometimes" Shawn said with a shrug.

"I love poetry. I think you can really tell how a person is feeling or thinking through their poetry."

"Ya I guess. I just like the wording and the images through the words."

"You know what you just gave me an idea for an assignment."

"What?"

"You'll find out tomorrow. I might actually have an assignment that you'll want to do."

"Not likely."

"Ya okay we'll see about that tomorrow. Thank-you for telling me Shawn. I know sharing for you isn't easy."

"Ya well don't tell anyone."

"I promise I won't. I'll see you tomorrow Shawn."

"See ya."

Shawn left the classroom and headed home. He didn't really want to go home, but he knew he had to. His mother recently had really been on his case about being late from school. She wanted him home right after school, but Shawn didn't know why. All she did anymore was get drunk with his father and then fight. Shawn didn't know what to do. Before his mother left they would argue every now and then. They never fought like this and his mother never drank this much. Shawn didn't know what to do about any of it. To him this was his normal life, even if he knew that it wasn't supposed to be this way. His time with Turner had taught him that you can have a normal life. That he can go to school and come home without having to worry about fighting or his father being too drunk to do anything. Life with Turner was different and showed Shawn that his life, the life that he thought was normal, wasn't so normal after all. Shawn didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to run away again and go back to being with Turner, but he couldn't do that. Turner had his life back now and Shawn couldn't go back to making it complicated. Turner didn't fight to keep him when his parents came back so he must have been happy to have Shawn gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cory entered his home through the side door just like he always did. His parents were sitting down at the table going over bills.

"Hey Cor, how was school?" Amy asked.

"It was fine." Cory said with sadness in his voice.

"Cory, did something happen?" Alan asked with concern.

"It's just… it's Shawn."

"Did something happen to Shawn?" Amy asked with concern in her voice.

"No he's fine it's just. Shawn's my best friend. He knows everything about me, but I don't know anything about him. Today Mr. Turner asked me what Shawn's interests were and I don't know any besides girls. I'm Shawn's best friend, but maybe he's not mine. I've known him for nine years and I can't even tell you one of his interests. What kind of friend does that make me?"

"Cory, you are a great friend to Shawn. You are always there for him when he needs you. That speaks a lot louder than what you know about him. Shawn's a private person. He's got a lot of walls built up around him. You can't blame yourself for not knowing everything about him." Amy said.

"Ya, but shouldn't I know what interest him?"

"So ask him. Shawn doesn't just share information. Ask him and he might tell you. Maybe he doesn't have much that interest him right now. It doesn't make you a bad friend. What would make you a bad friend would be all the times Shawn came to you for help and if you pushed him away. Whenever Shawn needed you, you were there for him. That will mean more to Shawn then what you know about him." Alan said.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow at school. I just can't help, but feel like I haven't been a good friend to him."

"You have been a great friend to Shawn and he knows that. Shawn just doesn't share so ask him tomorrow and see what he tells you." Amy said.

"Ya, I better go do my homework." Cory said as he made his way over to the stairs.

"Your report card should be coming in the mail in the next few days. Should we be prepared for anything?" Alan asked.

"I don't know. I tried my best." Cory said.

"That's all we can ask." Amy said.

Cory went upstairs to his room so he could do his homework. Unlike Shawn he actually did want to go to college and he knew he would need the grades to get in. He had been trying this year to get better grades and he was hoping his hard work had paid off. Today was Thursday so either tomorrow or Monday he would get his report card and Cory would find out if the work paid off or not.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Turner went into his apartment and couldn't help, but feel like Shawn was hiding something from him. He put his bag down and sat down on his couch. He had never heard Shawn call himself stupid before. He couldn't believe that Shawn didn't even let himself have a dream, because he knew he wouldn't be anything more than some townie. Shawn truly believed that he was going to be nothing in life. Turner couldn't help, but feel hurt that Shawn thought that little of himself and Turner never noticed while he was living with him. Turner couldn't help, but wonder what else he missed about Shawn while they lived together. It was the first time that Turner realised that Shawn never did open up to him. They lived together for a year, but Turner didn't really know Shawn. It blew his mind that Shawn not only liked reading poetry, but wrote it. Playing guitar didn't seem like much of a stretch for Shawn's personality. He was very popular with people and very much so could be a people person. Playing guitar kinda fit with his look and personality. The poetry was interesting to Turner and he wanted to read some that Shawn had wrote, but he knows that Shawn would never let him. So tomorrow for the weekend he was going to give the class an assignment about poetry and see if he could get Shawn to do the assignment.

Turner couldn't help, but think that something was bothering Shawn. If Shawn's parents were arguing a lot and in front of him that worried Turner. No child should have to see their parents fight, especially if it was happening more and more. Turner didn't know how often the arguing was, but if it was bad enough to wake Shawn up in the morning and make him leave then it wasn't good. Shawn was a sensitive kid, especially after everything he had been through in his life. He didn't trust people with himself; he had these walls built all around him to protect himself from being hurt. He didn't let himself be with the same girl for longer than a week or two, because he didn't want to get attached or care about the person. Shawn was very guarded and protective of his feelings. Having to hear his parents arguing was only going to hurt Shawn.

Turner looked around his apartment and couldn't help, but think of all the other places he looked at. They were two bedrooms and in better areas then this one was in. They were definitely bigger than this place and it was better for Shawn to be living in. That was one of the things that Turner hated about Shawn's parents being back. He was back in the trailer park with all of the gangs. Shawn didn't belong there, even if he felt like he did. There was a point in Turner's life that he didn't care about people. All he cared about was himself and he lived for himself. When Shawn was brought into his life, his life was made better. Shawn made his life mean something and that was new for Turner. He never cared about anyone before and yet with Shawn he couldn't help it. He wanted to be there for Shawn and help him get through life and find himself. He wanted to be there for him and take care of him. Shawn wasn't used to someone wanting to be there for him. He wasn't used to someone caring about him and wanting to help him. Sure he had the Mathews, but they weren't his family. They cared about him, but they had enough kids they couldn't take on another one, especially a child like Shawn. Turner didn't know what to do, but he felt like he had to do something. He had to make a change. So he was going to call back some of the apartments that Shawn and him looked at and see if any were still available. Turner wanted Shawn to feel like he could still come back if he wanted or needed to.  
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shawn walked into the trailer and he saw both his parents sitting down in the kitchen with a drink in their hands. Shawn knew that tonight would be a bad night. It wasn't barely after four in the afternoon and his parents were already well on their way to being drunk. Shawn closed the door and tried to get to the safety of his room, but his mother got him first.

"You're late. I told you I want you home by three thirty." Virna said with anger in her voice.

The fact that he had to be home by three thirty was a problem in itself for Shawn. It took thirty minutes to walk home from the school. School didn't end until three and by the time he grabbed his things and put his books away in his locker and said goodbye to Cory it was easily quarter after before he even left the school, but his mother didn't understand that.

"I'm sorry Jon wanted to speak to me."

"What's he want?" Chet asked with anger in his voice.

"Just to see how I was doing with everything." Shawn said in a dismissive tone trying to edge his way towards the hallway.

If he could get to his room he could usually avoid any anger directed his way.

"What did you say?" Chet asked with even more anger in his voice now.

Shawn didn't know why his father hated Turner so much. Because of Turner Shawn had a place to live for the year that he was gone traveling around the states. His father didn't care that Shawn was left behind for a year and only heard from him once every twenty-eight days. Even when his father was close by he didn't even bother to come and see him. Because of Turner Shawn was able to have a place to live and food to eat. Turner kept him alive and safe. So Shawn didn't understand why his father hated him so much.

"That everything was fine." Shawn said softly.

"You better have said that." Virna said in a threatening way.

She never used to be like this and Shawn couldn't help, but wonder what happened to his mother in the year that she had been gone.

"I don't want you talking to him boy. We are your parents, not him. I don't want to hear any more about him or that you were talking to him. You understand me boy." Chet raised his voice.

"Ya"

"You're grounded for a week. If you are late again I will make your punishment worse. Now get out of my sight." Virna said with distain in her voice.

Shawn didn't even argue he just went down the hall to his small room. The room was small, but he didn't care it was his room. It was a place where he could go to be safe and alone. He closed his door and could already hear his parents getting loud and arguing. Shawn just wished he could escape and get away from everything. He put his bag down on his bed, which was just a mattress and box spring on the floor. He went over to his desk that was about to collapse over from being so old, same as his dresser. Shawn had long ago given up on his dresser and just had his clothes in different neat piles on the floor. Shawn grabbed his Walkman and put his headset on. He turned the volume up as loud as it could go to try and block out the sound of his parents arguing. The problem was the music was drowning out the argument, but Shawn still couldn't get his mind to stop thinking about it. He just wanted to escape from everything for a little while, but he didn't know what to do. So Shawn did something he hadn't done in years. He sat down on his bed and opened his book bag. He took his books out and actually did his homework.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shawn was sitting in his English class at the end of the day. Cory was in front of him like always and he had been acting weird all day. At lunch time he kept asking Shawn questions about his life and about things that interest him. Shawn told Cory that he wasn't interested in much and that everything with his parents was going great. He trusted Cory, but that didn't mean he wanted to tell him personal things about his life. Shawn was a private person and he liked it like that. He liked not having anyone knowing him. Shawn was worried about getting home on time today. He had to be there for three thirty and he was already grounded. He didn't want to make his mother madder than she already was. Last night she got so drunk that she came into his room just screaming at him and telling him how he was an idiot and a mistake. This morning she was still drunk and she threw a plate at him. It hit the wall just beside his head and only, because Shawn was fast enough to move out of the way. Shawn didn't know what to do and his father just stood there with a stupid smile on his face. Shawn didn't know where his parents had gone to, but in the last year that they were gone, they changed. Shawn was hoping that his parents would go back to normal soon. He wanted a family. He wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere and he wanted that to be with his family. He wanted that hole in him to feel filled. He didn't want to feel like a part of him was missing anymore. The class was almost over when Turner got to their weekend assignment.

"Alright so this weekend your assignment will be reading poems from this book. You are all going to get one and then you are going to write a poem yourself. It has to be at least three verses long and you will hand it in on Monday morning. This is a simple and easy assignment for the weekend and it just might inspire some creativeness in you." Turner said as he started to pass out a small poetry book.

It was a book with a collection of poems from different artists. Turner was hoping this might inspire Shawn to write and hopefully Turner would be able to read some of his work. Even if it was only one poem he might get to see how good Shawn is. Shawn took the book and placed it in his bag. He didn't know if he was going to do the assignment or not, but he would at least read the book. He liked poetry so he would read the book if nothing else. Shawn had actually done his History homework last night and when he handed it in to Mr. Feeney he looked like he was about to fall over. It wasn't often that Shawn would do his homework, but every now and then he would. So Shawn wasn't sure why Mr. Feeney was so surprised when he did his homework that day. Usually Shawn would just write something down and hand it in like it was nothing. Last night he actually read the material and focused on writing the report. He didn't know how it would go over; Shawn knew he wasn't good with spelling, grammar or punctuation. Shawn didn't know why he had such a hard time with things like that. They seemed so simple, but he just couldn't get his mind around it. It was like there was this wall blocking his mind from understanding and no matter how hard he tried to push through he just couldn't. He had to read the History material almost twenty times before he understood what it even said.

When the bell rang Shawn got out of his seat and went out into the hallway. He wanted to get home without being late, but it wasn't that easy when he had Cory wanting to talk to him and having to get home within thirty minutes.

"Hey Shawny we doing anything this weekend?" Cory asked Shawn before he could get out of the school.

"I can't I'm grounded this weekend."

"Why? What did you do?"

"I was late last night. It's no big deal I'll just sleep all weekend." Shawn joked.

"How long are you grounded for?"

"A week. I gotta go before my mom starts to wonder where I am."

"See ya" Cory called after Shawn as he left the school.

Shawn headed home as fast as he could, but it just wasn't possible. He had to walk at least a half an hour to get home, sometimes if the crossing lights didn't all line up it would take forty-five minutes. It wasn't his fault it just worked out that way. Not to mention it would take him ten minutes to get his things together to leave the school. His mom needed to understand that it wasn't his fault. He couldn't fly home or make time stop just so he could get there on time. Sure enough Shawn got home at it was three forty-five in the afternoon and he even ran part way. He walked in the door and saw his mother sitting down at the table just tapping her finger on the table top. He knew she was upset, but he couldn't help it. It wasn't that easy to get here on time.

"You're late." Virna said with venom dripping from her voice.

"I know. I'm sorry, but it's not easy to get here on time. I don't get out until three and by the time I walk here I'm always going to be late. I'm coming home right after school why can't you understand that I can't do it in thirty minutes?" Shawn asked with a slight attitude to his voice.

He didn't know where or what his mother had gone or been through to be like this, but he hated it. He didn't want to be here anymore or with them. It wasn't fair for her to expect him home just thirty minutes after school ended. In the last month and a half she had gotten on his case all the time about anything and everything. He couldn't hang out with Cory as much, he couldn't date; half the time he spent just sitting in his room. Virna got up off the chair and came right at Shawn and for the first time Shawn was actually scared of his mother. He looked over and saw his father sitting in his chair in the living room just drinking a beer and watching tv. He completely didn't care about what was going on behind him. Shawn was once again on his own with his mother's anger. Then Virna did something that Shawn never in his life expected her to do. She slapped him, and she slapped him so hard it made his head fling to the side. Shawn was in a daze. He brought his hand up to his now red and throbbing cheek. His own mother had just slapped him and he couldn't believe it.

"Now you don't talk to me like that. I am your mother and you will do as I say. I don't care if you have to leave early you will get here by three thirty every day. Now what do you say to me for talking back?" Virna yelled into Shawn's face.

Shawn couldn't talk; his mind was in a complete daze. He couldn't believe his own mother had hit him. This wasn't the sweet woman who would make him soup when he was sick. Who would hold him when he woke up from a nightmare. This wasn't his mother this was some other person that Shawn had never met.

"Answer me!" Virna yelled right in Shawn's face.

"I'm sorry." Shawn stuttered out.

"For what?" Virna asked with force on each word.

"For talking back to you." Shawn said softly.

Virna grabbed Shawn's arm tight and pulled him down the small hallway and into his room. She threw him into it with what force she could in her half drunken state.

"You are going to stay in this room all weekend. I will let you out every five hours to go to the bathroom and that is it. I don't want to see your face all weekend you worthless piece of shit." With that Virna slammed his bedroom door shut and locked it so he couldn't get out.

Shawn just stood there in his small room trying to catch his breath. He could hear his mother going back into the kitchen talking to his father about how worthless he was. He could hear his father talking about how he had to put up with Shawn while she left. Their words hurt worse than the slap to his face. There was no window in Shawn's room so he had no way of escaping. He was stuck here for the rest of the night and his only hope was that come morning they would let him out. Shawn had never felt like this before and he didn't like this feeling. He missed being at Turner's where he felt safe. He always felt like he could be there no matter what and everything would be okay. Inside those walls he was safe and now he was stuck in hell. His own mother hit him while his own father did nothing to stop her. He didn't stick up for him or made her stop. He just acted like it didn't happen. Now here he was stuck in this room with no way out. The only hope Shawn had was that his parents would get so drunk that they would forget to lock the door. Then he could leave tonight and not come back until Monday after school. It wouldn't be the first time he had spent the weekend at Cory's or the first time he spent the night on the street. All Shawn could do now was wait so he went over and grabbed his Walkman and sat down on the bed again. He would listen to music and work on his English assignment. He liked poetry so he was actually looking forward to reading the book, and now he had something he felt like he needed to write about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mr. Feeney went home with all of his paperwork with him. He was going to go home, sit down with a cup of coffee and start reading through the History reports. He had to admit he was a little interested in seeing what Shawn Hunter wrote for his report. It wasn't often Shawn would hand in his assignment. So when he did Mr. Feeney would always read his first and each time he was disappointed. Not only did Shawn clearly not read the material, what he wrote was horrible. Shawn had the worst grammar and punctuation that he had ever seen, especially for a fifteen year old. There had been many times where Mr. Feeney wondered if Shawn had a learning disability or if he was just lazy. Shawn was a bright kid; in grade school he was good in math. He could understand numbers really well, but again he never applied himself with any of the work so he just coasted by. This year he had Shawn for Math and History so he was hoping to break that wall down and get Shawn to actually do the work. Eli had him for civics study and Turner had Shawn for homeroom and English. So far this year none of them have been able to give Shawn anything more than a D on all of his tests and reports.

Mr. Feeney sat down in his comfy chair and flipped through the reports until he found Shawn's. He was already prepared to be disappointed, but he figured he would give it a shot anyways. What he wasn't prepared for what the fact that Shawn actually read the material. As Mr. Feeney read it he couldn't help, but be shocked that Shawn had read the three chapters and understood them. The report was good. The problem was the grammar, spelling and punctuation was horrible. The whole thing was written in one sentence. For some reason Shawn had actually decided to do his homework, to really do his homework. If the report was written better he could have easily given Shawn a B, but with the grammar and punctuation he couldn't. Mr. Feeney didn't want to have to write a D on this paper, especially when Shawn actually tried. Mr. Feeney decided to do something that he never does; he was going to give Shawn a second chance. He wasn't going to grade this paper, on Monday he would speak to Shawn and explain a few things; then have him rewrite it. Mr. Feeney was going to see how much Shawn was truly going to try. If he was going to start trying now then Mr. Feeney would help him any way that he could. If Shawn was only doing the homework, because he was bored then he would continue to grade his work as he always has. If Shawn was truly going to try then he would help him in any way that he could, but only if Shawn truly wanted to try.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was Saturday afternoon when Chet opened Shawn's bedroom door. Shawn was sitting on the bed doing his homework when he father walked in. The night before had been horrible. He was only allowed out twice last night and only long enough to go to the bathroom. His mother watching his every move along the way. He never saw his father last night. Chet was too busy getting drunk again and watching tv to actually help his own son out. Each time Virna came to let him out she looked madder and madder, like Shawn had done something wrong by sitting in his room. Now it was Saturday afternoon and this was the first time his room door had been open. Shawn was praying that not only could he go to the bathroom, but he would be allowed out again. Chet opened the door a little more and spoke to Shawn.

"Go on now, go to the bathroom then come right back here. I need to talk to ya." Chet said with no love in his voice.

Shawn didn't care though, in that moment he really had to go to the bathroom. So he got up off his bed and went directly to the bathroom. Once he was done on his way back he saw his mother staring at him and there was no love in her eyes. She was still mad at him and Shawn knew that he was looking at another day being in this room. He went back in and Chet closed the door behind him. Shawn went and sat back down on his bed and waited for his father to talk.

"You can't keep doing this Shawn. You can't keep upsetting your mother."

"Dad it's not fair. I can't get home at that time. It's not possible with school. I don't understand if I'm at school why does it matter what time I get back home. I'm coming right from school."

"Because she said so. If you keep being bad and being stupid she won't want to be here anymore. Then she'll leave and I won't have my Virna. She's who I live for and who I love. Without her I have nothing. So you better start to straighten up your act and figure out how to behave. Quit upsetting your mamma or you're never gonna leave this room ya hear?"

"I'm your son, how can you let her do this to me?" Shawn couldn't help the hurt that came through his voice.

To hear his father say that without Virna he didn't have any reason to live. Shawn was sitting right there, he was his son and yet he wasn't good enough for him. How was he ever going to be good enough for someone else, if he couldn't be enough for his own parents?

"Because we're your parents and it's our job to punish ya when you do somethin' wrong. Now quit upsetting your mamma so she don't leave again. Figure out how to be a good son and we wouldn't have to do this to ya." Chet said as he went back over to the bedroom door.

"Dad wait I'm hungry. Can I at least eat something?"

Shawn didn't get an answer as his bedroom door slammed shut. Shawn couldn't believe this was happening. Both of his parents were against him. He knew what they were doing was wrong, but part of his mind was telling him that they weren't wrong. Part of his mind was telling him that he was a bad son and didn't help out enough around the house. That he talked back too much. That he spoke with attitude. That he didn't try in school and was nothing, but a disappointment. That part of his brain was louder than the part telling him that his parents were turning abusive. Shawn couldn't even think of that word, so he just pushed it back and ignored that warning sound going off in his mind. Shawn knew that all of this would end if he just figured out how to be a good son.

If he did that then he wouldn't have to be punished anymore and he wouldn't upset his mother or father. He would study more and help out more around the house. Maybe if he did that his mother would be a little less uptight about what time he got back from school. Until then he would just have to have everything ready when he went into last period and just run home as fast as he could so he wouldn't be late anymore. Maybe if he gave his mother a reason to trust him and he showed her he can be good she would let him stay out later. With that thought in mind Shawn turned his attention back to his Math homework. He had already done his poem for English and now he was working on his other homework. All he had was Math, but there were over two hundred questions and Shawn had to teach himself, because he didn't pay much attention in class. All he could do was hope that they would be right. He knew that when his report card came in the mail it wouldn't be good. Shawn was expecting it to be all F's and D's just like it always was. He knew his mother would freak out about it though, so he was hoping that the next one would be better. If he just did the work he might be able to get a few C's next time.

Chet went out into the kitchen to see his lovely Virna standing there with a beer already for him. He took it from her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I spoke to him about his attitude towards you. I told him to shape up and be a better son. He said he was hungry so it's up to you if you want to feed him or not."

"No, he can eat Monday at school. This is his punishment for the way he talked to me. I won't put up with that."

"That's fine baby. But maybe you should think about pushing his curfew back just a bit. Just until four so he can leave school and get here."

"Are you taking his side over mine?" Virna asked with some anger in her voice.

"No Virna baby I'm not. I'm just sayin' the boy has a point. It does take longer than thirty minutes to get here. Just think about giving him till four to get home and if he's late you can punish him then."

"Fine, but if he's late the punishment will be worse. There won't be any excuses for it."

"I couldn't agree more. Now come here and get some sugar."

Chet said as he pulled Virna into him and kissed her. Chet couldn't believe how happy he was now that he had his Virna back in his life. He wasn't going to ever let her leave or let anyone come between them again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was finally Monday and Shawn was allowed out of his room so he could go to school. He was starving so he opened the fridge to find that they had no food. Shawn went and had a shower and got ready for school. He did his best to ignore the hunger pains that were creeping through his stomach. He grabbed all of his homework and the poetry book and headed out to go to school. On his way through the kitchen his mother spoke.

"From now on I want you home by four unless I say otherwise." She placed a list and some money down on the table. "After school you are to go to the grocery store and get us these things. I expect you home by five with everything on this list. You are then going to do all of your chores and make this house spotless then cook dinner and do your homework. Do I make myself clear?" Virna asked with a dangerous look in her eye, almost trying to dare Shawn to argue about it.

"Yes mom."

Virna didn't say anything so Shawn grabbed the money and the list and headed out of the house. He was glad he didn't have to be home until four now. That would at least give him the chance to get his things ready and leave. He wasn't happy about having to do all the cleaning and cooking tonight, but he wasn't going to say that. She didn't hit or yell at him and Shawn didn't want to upset her. He had to remember to be a good son. Shawn was certain he would be able to figure out how to be a good son, he just needed to focus. Shawn was able to get all of his homework done and for the first time since he was in the sixth grade, he actually did all of his homework. He was hoping the math was right; he had to learn how to do it himself considering he didn't pay attention in class. What Shawn was worried about was those word problems at the end of the lesson. He didn't really understand what they were talking about so he did his best and he was hoping they were right, but he didn't think they were.

Shawn got to school and went over to his locker to put his books away. Cory came right over to him considering their lockers were next to each other's.

"Shawny how was your weekend?" Cory asked with his usual happy tone.

"I was grounded remember." Shawn said back lightly.

"Ya, but you didn't sneak out?"

"Did I climb through your window?"

"No"

"Then no, I didn't get the chance to sneak out. How was your weekend?" Shawn asked trying to change the subject.

Shawn didn't want anyone to know about what happened to him this weekend. It was embarrassing and he couldn't tell Cory, who was the world's perfect son, how much of a screw up he was. Shawn just needed to figure out how to be more like Cory then his parents would love him and wouldn't treat him like this. Maybe then when he had a real family would he feel complete and whole.

"Not much just hung out with Topanga."

"How was she?"

They started to head towards homeroom.

"She's good. Her and her parents are going away for the week, remember?"

"Oh ya some conference her dad was invited to."

"Ya so she was pretty excited about it this weekend. I helped her get all packed up and ready to go. I'll miss my sweet little petunia."

"She's only gone a week Cor I think you'll survive." Shawn said as he sat down just as the bell went for homeroom.

Shawn couldn't wait until lunch, he was starving and he just wanted to get something to eat. Going all weekend without food was one of the hardest things he had to go through. The stomach pains were brutal at times. Shawn could actually feel his own stomach eating itself for nutrients. Shawn did his best to focus during homeroom. Once homeroom was over he went down to Math with Mr. Feeney. He would need to hand in his homework from the weekend and he had to pay attention today for tonight's homework. Everyone handed in their work and Shawn didn't even look at Mr. Feeney when he handed in his own homework. Shawn sat down in the back in his usual spot and listened to Mr. Feeney's lesson. Shawn even wrote down some notes for later in case he couldn't remember how to do something. Once second period was over it was finally time for lunch. After lunch he would be right back with Mr. Feeney for History and then Civics then English. Shawn didn't even wait for Cory at the lockers he dropped his books off then went straight for the cafeteria for some food. By the time he got food and sat down Cory was just coming in.

"Hey why didn't you wait for me?" Cory asked.

"I was going to, but my stomach told me not to." Shawn joked.

Cory smiled and went to stand in line for his own food. Shawn ate slowly so it didn't look like he was starving even though he was. He knew that would look suspicious and he didn't want anyone to know about his home life. So he acted normal like it was just a normal day. Cory came and sat down and they talked about what was on TV this weekend that Shawn missed.

Mr. Feeney waked in and grabbed his lunch before he sat down at the same table with Eli and Turner. Mr. Feeney sat down with them as he spoke.

"Good day Mr. Williams and Mr. Turner."

"Good afternoon Mr. Feeney." Eli said.

"Hey George."

"I believe there is something wrong with Mr. Hunter."

"Again?" Eli asked.

"Friday he handed in a History assignment. I read it over the weekend and he actually read the assigned chapters and understood them."

"He did his homework. Legitimately did his homework?" Turner asked surprised.

Mr. Feeney handed Turner Shawn History assignment.

"The report as a whole is terrible. The punctuation, the spelling and the grammar is just horrible. However, what he wrote was good. If it wasn't for the mistakes it would be a B level paper. My problem is all of the errors makes it a failing paper."

Turner was reading the report as Mr. Feeney spoke. There were a lot of errors that were basic for English. What Shawn analysed and wrote was good, but the structure and the punctuation was horrible, it was like he was writing at a grade three level and not a grade ten level.

"This is pretty good, it's horribly written, but it's good. I can't believe Shawn did his homework. That never happens." Turner said.

"He also handed in his math assignment from this weekend complete. I didn't look at all of the questions, but the ones I saw we correct. There were over two hundred questions on that assignment."

"Okay something is definitely wrong." Eli said.

"Well maybe not. Thursday I spoke to Shawn after school about dreams and going to college. He told me he felt like he was never going to be good enough for college or smart enough. I gave him a talk and maybe some of it actually worked on him." Turner said.

"Whatever the case may be I'm glad he is doing his work. Hopefully he has turned a new leaf. If not keep a close eye on him and see if any of his other behaviour changes." Mr. Feeney said.

"What are you going to do about the report?" Eli asked.

"I'll speak to him after class and explain a few things. I will then let him rewrite it for tomorrow and see if he is able to improve the writing itself."

"It's not like you to give second chances George." Turner said.

"I know, but Shawn honestly tried on this report. I'm willing to give him a second chance if he wants to take it. If he is starting to turn a new leaf then I am willing to give him a second chance on this report."

"Well I'll keep an eye on him and see if his behaviour changes. Maybe he actually did my assignment this weekend." Turner said.

"What did you assign?" Eli asked.

"To write a poem." Turner answered.

"Ya I don't see him doing that." Eli answered back.

Turner didn't say anything about Shawn liking poetry. He was going to keep that to himself, because Shawn didn't want anyone to know about it. They slowly changed the conversation onto something else and Turner vaguely listened. He looked over at Shawn and saw that he was eating lunch. He seemed fine; it was just weird that he actually did his assignments. It wasn't like Shawn to do his homework and to actually try on it. Usually Shawn just blew it off and wrote anything to fill in the word length. Shawn didn't care if he was passing or failing. Shawn was just in school to hang out with his friends. Turner didn't know if Shawn was looking to turn over a new leaf or if something was bothering him so much that he was doing homework to escape from it all. Turner was hoping that it was the first option, but with everything going on back home with his parents fighting, Turner wasn't so sure.

Shawn kept up with Cory's conversation all through lunch. Once the bell rang he went off to his History class while Cory went to his media arts class. Shawn watched as Mr. Feeney handed back the History assignments, but he didn't get his back. He was going to ask, but he was afraid that his report was so bad that Mr. Feeney was going to lecture him in front of everyone so he decided he would wait until the end of the class to speak to him about it. Shawn paid attention in class and tried to follow along with the reading. It was a lot of reading and material to understand and Shawn knew he would have to reread it later on for the homework. Shawn took notes to help remind him later on tonight for what he would need to reread and pay attention to. At the end of the class Shawn went up to Mr. Feeney and waited for everyone to leave the room before he addressed Mr. Feeney.

"Mr. Hunter, I would like to speak to you about your report."

"Ya you didn't hand mine back. I'm just wondering why?"

"I wanted to speak to you about it after class." Mr. Feeney pulled the paper out and placed it down on the desk. "What you wrote was good. I was surprised that you read the material and understood it. The problem is your grammar, spelling and punctuation is horrible. The whole thing is written in one sentence."

"So I failed again." Shawn said sadly.

"Not at all. The material is good it's just your structure and the technical aspect of the report is what is bad. I want to give you a second chance to fix those errors tonight and hand it back in. What is it about the grammar and punctuation that gives you problems Mr. Hunter?"

"I don't know. I know I should know it, but it's like there's this wall in my head I can't get through it."

"Try reading your work out loud. Read it word for word and when you take a breath is when you should have a period there. When you pause there should be a comma used. Try doing that and see if it helps you get through that wall. Work on that tonight and read the chapters for tomorrow's class. Tomorrow hand the report in and I will grade it then."

Mr. Feeney handed Shawn his report back and Shawn took it. He was glad that he didn't fail and that Mr. Feeney was going to give him a second chance on it.

"Thanks Mr. Feeney. I'll try reading it out loud and see if that helps."

"If you need help you can always come to me and I will help you. The report was good Mr. Hunter I was very impressed. Just work on those few things and I'm confident that this will earn you a very good grade. I look forward to reading it tomorrow."

Shawn just gave a nod and headed out so he could get to his Civics class. He was already late, but he would just say that Mr. Feeney wanted to talk to him. He felt a little proud that Mr. Feeney liked his report. He was frustrated that his writing was so bad that he couldn't even grade it. Shawn was going to try and see if he could read it out loud to see if that would help. Shawn didn't know why he had such a problem with reading and writing. He just knows it's always been like this since he was little. He didn't know why and his parents never mentioned why, but Shawn never really thought about it. His parents or his family wasn't one for school. None of them had graduated high school so Shawn just figured it was genetics. Civics went by pretty fast and Shawn was glad that he didn't have any homework for that class. He already had to rewrite the History paper, read five chapters for tomorrow, plus his Math homework for tomorrow. He also had to go grocery shopping, cook dinner and clean the whole house before he would be able to do his homework. Shawn didn't know how he was going to get it all done, but he was hoping it wouldn't take long. Shawn figured he would be able to clean while dinner was cooking then tonight he could do his homework and hopefully he wouldn't be up too late. Shawn went into his last class for the day his English class. He went and handed in his poem with everyone else and he was praying that Turner wouldn't read any out loud. Shawn was relieved when he went on with the class. It was all too soon the end of the day and Shawn grabbed his things and headed out. He said goodbye to Cory and Cory didn't invite him over, knowing that Shawn was grounded. Shawn headed out and hurried to go to the grocery store. The sooner he was home then the sooner he could get everything done and get to his homework.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Turner went into his apartment and put his book bag down. He was excited to read Shawn's poem. He went over to check the messages first on his answering machine. He had called the apartments back that he looked at with Shawn to see if any are available. He knew that Shawn was with his parents, but he just wanted the extra bedroom in case Shawn came by or if they started to live together again. Turner didn't know if they would ever live together or not, but Turner was hoping that Shawn maybe would come by and stay on weekends or something. Turner missed hanging out with Shawn and just talking about nothing. His apartment felt so empty without Shawn there with him. He really was hoping that he would be able to have Shawn in his personal life once again. He listened to his messages and was thrilled when one of the apartments was still available and if he wanted it he could have it. It was a nice two bedroom apartment in his price range and closer to the Mathews' house. The apartment had beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings. It was a nice apartment and Turner was happy that he would be able to move into it. He called the owner back and let him know that he would take it. He had an appointment tomorrow so he could sign a lease and hand him first month's rent and a security deposit. Come the first of next month he would be in a new place. His current apartment was just a month to month lease so he would let the landlord know he was moving on the first and it wouldn't be a problem.

Turner went and sat down on his couch and pulled the poems out of his book bag. He flipped through until he saw Shawn's name and he immediately started to read the poem.

Glass River

By Shawn Hunter

The slow drip drip drip of ruby rain,

Forever watchful shadowy eyes glisten with tears,

Shattered hearts scream out from pain,

In a haunting grave corrupt with innocent fears.

Tick tock, tick tock the echoing eternal clock,

Are you coming? Are you going?

Slow pitter patter of heavy feet on dead man's walk,

Impure voices raging but never knowing.

Darkness evades the murky river creek,

Hooded figures sway against the chilling wind,

The world of solitude swallows the weak,

A single lone star leading the blind.

A ghostly tingle caresses icy skin,

Freezing the body and dying soul,

Capturing all hateful poisonous sins,

Bringing them down into the empty black hole.

Shimmering twinkles invade the ebony sky,

Guiding light through the mystic woods,

Making the haunting figures release a strangled cry,

Forcing the demons to release their grip on the good.

Majestic eyes forever on watch,

Captivating all that dare to walk,

Carefully hiding in the twilight till it's time to launch,

Tick tock, tick tock the echoing eternal clock.

Turner didn't know what to think about the poem. It was good, it was dark, but it was good. He was surprised that Shawn was the one to write it. He expected something completely different and he didn't expect anything this good. It was dark though, and that made Turner feel a little uncomfortable with it. He didn't know if that was just Shawn's style or if his life was bothering him this much that his writing had taken on a darker turn. The poem itself was very good and very well written. Turner was surprised that Shawn had this much talent with poetry, but when he thought about it Shawn was a sensitive teenager. So poetry really did make sense for him. It would give him a way to express his feelings without having to say them out loud. If this poem was a depiction of how Shawn was feeling then he was in a very dark place. This poem only made Turner more worried about Shawn and more confident that he made the right choice in getting the new apartment. He was going to try and see if he could get Shawn slowly back over with him. Even if it started with just dinner every now and then. Tomorrow he would let Shawn know that he was moving and why so Shawn felt like he could come over whenever he wanted to. Turner knew that Shawn wanted to be with his parents, but that was only, because he thought that was his family. To Shawn his parents were his family and that they loved him. Turner didn't know if they truly loved Shawn, but they weren't his family for that he was sure of. Family doesn't abandon you time and time again for your own selfish reasons. Shawn had a family they just weren't blood related and for Shawn he had a hard time understanding that. To Shawn the only family there was, was blood family. That wasn't the case Shawn didn't have very many people that cared about him, but the ones that did loved him and would always be there for him. He just had to get Shawn to see and understand that. Shawn meant a lot to Turner and he wasn't going to let Shawn be hurt by his parents. Even if it was just arguing Shawn shouldn't have to see or hear that. Turner was also worried about where their money was coming from. From what he saw of Chet he wasn't one to work. If Virna wasn't working then how were they paying bills and getting food. Turner still remembered how thin Shawn was when he first started to live with him. He was too thin for his age and height and Shawn had gained thirty pounds from living with him. Shawn was at a healthy weight and he was worried that now he was back at his parents he would lose the weight. Turner was going to keep a close eye on Shawn. He didn't want him to downward spiral especially when he was finally getting on track with school.

Turner didn't know if Shawn doing his homework was a good thing or not, or if it would even last. For now though, he was doing it and trying his best to make it work. The school year was only a quarter of the way through and Turner knew that Shawn's grades for the first quarter were terrible. He was hoping Shawn will be able to get his grades up and keep doing it so he could graduate high school. Turner did something he never thought he would be able to do, he wrote an A at the top of Shawn's poem. It was a well-deserved A and Turner was proud of Shawn for doing the work and doing it to the best of his ability. Turner turned his attention to the remaining poems to see how the rest of the class did.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shawn headed into the trailer park with the bags of groceries and his book bag on his back. It was cold out so he tried to hurry home, but the groceries were heavy. There wasn't anything fancy just cheap food, because that was all they could afford. Neither one of his parents were working so where the money came from Shawn didn't know. He did know that it was the beginning of November and it was getting cold out. He had his leather jacket on with a sweater underneath. He was still cold, due to the wind, but he was almost home where he could be warm again. He didn't know what he would have to make for dinner, but he was hoping it would be something simple. He truly did need to work on his homework. He had to read five chapters for his History class tomorrow and that would take him a few hours to do. He had to reread the chapters multiple times just so his mind would understand what was being said. He had Math questions to answer. He also had to try and get his History report rewritten properly so he could get it graded and hopefully it wouldn't be a failing grade. The problem was Shawn knew he sucked at proper English. He had always been horrible with it so to have to try and rewrite this paper he knew it wouldn't be easy and he knew he probably would fail anyways. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't get a good grade. That was part of the reasons why he stopped trying back in the sixth grade. He couldn't get anything above a D no matter how hard he tried. He was stupid and he knew that so he didn't know why he was trying so hard now, it was only going to show just how stupid he was.

Shawn went into the trailer and could see his parents drinking once again, but they weren't fighting so Shawn would take it. Shawn went into the kitchen and put the groceries down on the counter top. His parents didn't say anything and Shawn couldn't figure out if that was a good or a bad thing. Shawn just put the groceries away and then he turned to his parents to see if they had an idea for dinner.

"Mom, dad, what do you want for dinner?" Shawn asked.

His parents didn't say anything Virna just turned her head to look at Shawn and Shawn could see the rage in her eyes. Shawn didn't know what he did wrong. All he did was what she asked. He was even home early, it wasn't even four yet. Shawn thought he did a good job. Shawn looked over at his father and could see that his report card was sitting down on the coffee table and now Shawn understood why his mother was so angry. Virna stood up and went over to Shawn.

"What is that?" Virna asked with anger pointing to his report card.

Shawn knew that his report card would be nothing, but D's and F's. Shawn hadn't even tried, because he didn't see the point in trying in school. He wasn't going to go anywhere and he was only going to fail anyways so he didn't see the need to worry and work so hard in school. He was doing it now only, because it gave him something to do to escape from the yelling and the fighting in the house. He was also trying to be a good son and part of that was doing as he was told and getting good grades. Shawn didn't know if he would be able to, but he figured he would try his best. At least if he failed he failed, because he wasn't good enough and because he was just plain stupid.

"My report card." Shawn said softly with a slight fear in his voice.

"You failed everything! You are a worthless piece of shit!" Virna yelled in Shawn's face.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying to get my grades up." Shawn pleaded with his very angry mother.

"You are nothing, but a disappointment! I can't believe I came back for you. You are so stupid you failed every single subject! You are nothing, but an idiot!" Virna yelled.

"I'm sorry I'm trying to get my grades up really I am." Shawn pleaded with his mother.

Shawn saw his father get up out of his chair and he could see the anger on his face. Shawn knew that his father didn't want his mother to leave and Shawn didn't know what his father would do if he thought Virna was going to leave.

"Chet, teach your worthless son a lesson or else I'm leaving both your pathetic asses." Virna said as she looked at Chet.

Shawn didn't know what was going on. His parents were never like this before. Shawn knew that when his father drank he could be mean and violent. He had seen it a few times before, but never with himself. Shawn didn't know what was going on or what happened to his parents, but they weren't the ones he remembered standing in front of him. Chet moved closer to Shawn and Shawn couldn't help, but hold his breath. His mother had slapped him just Friday and he didn't know what his father would do. Everything in Shawn's body was telling him to run, but he couldn't get his body to actually move. Shawn was never one for fighting or confrontation. Sure he could confront someone in the trailer park if he needed to, but that was only when someone he cared about was being threatened. Otherwise he just kept to himself and stayed out of everyone's way. This was his father and Shawn was confident that his father wouldn't hurt him. He was probably just going to yell at him and make him stay in his room again.

Chet got into Shawn's face and Shawn didn't even have time to register anything before he felt the pain to the side of his face. He completely missed his father punching him on the left side of the face. By the time he even realised what happened he was being punched again on the same side of the face, knocking him to the ground. Chet hit him one more time on the left side of his face making his lip and nose bleed before he stepped back.

"Get your grades up boy and quit upsetting your mamma. I won't tell ya again." Chet said with a drunken slur to his words.

"Get your ass up and make us dinner. Then clean this place up." Virna said as she went to sit back down on the couch.

His father just went into the kitchen to get another beer and completely acted like nothing happened. Shawn didn't move from his spot on the floor for a few minutes. His whole left half of his face felt like it was on fire. Shawn could feel blood coming down his face from his nose and his lip. Shawn knew he had to move before his mother or father got upset. So he forced his body to get up and Shawn was just thankful that his body wasn't sore, just his face. Shawn went into the bathroom to see what the damage was. Shawn had no idea his father could hit so hard and he never thought he would be on the receiving end of his punches. Shawn looked in the mirror and couldn't believe what he saw. His whole left half of his face was red and Shawn could already see some black from a bruise starting to come through. His nose was bleeding and his lip was split with blood going down his chin. Shawn didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to run away and never come back. He wanted to go to Turner's and feel safe again, but there was that other part of him telling him it was his fault, that he deserved this. After all he did get the grades; that's what upset his mother in the first place. He just had to figure out how to get his grades up and then his mother wouldn't be mad at him. If he just did what he was told and did it to the best of his ability then his parents wouldn't have to punish him. This was his fault and he deserved the punishment he got. After all his parents loved him, they came back for him so the must love him. He just had to figure out how to be a good son and then they wouldn't have to punish him. Shawn grabbed a cloth and ran it under warm water so he could wash the blood off his face. He gently washed the blood off his face and he hoped it would stop bleeding soon. With the blood gone Shawn went back out into the kitchen to figure something out to make for dinner. Shawn looked at the clock and saw that it was just after five at night and he knew he would have a long night ahead of him. The trailer was dirty and it would take a couple hours to clean, plus make dinner then he would finally get to do his homework. Shawn opened the fridge and saw the hamburger, he knew they had macaroni and a can of tomatoes so he decided he would make that. It also wouldn't take long and while it was cooking he could start to clean. He would clean the bathroom first and then do the kitchen last after dinner was done. Shawn figured that this way he would be able to clean up after everyone was done eating instead of cleaning the kitchen twice.

Shawn started to cook the hamburger in a frying pan; he put the tomatoes in a pot to cook and started the water so it would boil. With that cooking by itself Shawn went into the bathroom to start to clean it. He had cleaned before and he liked to keep his room neat so cleaning wasn't foreign to him. He had cleaned the trailer before by himself when his father was too drunk to do anything or when he took off and Shawn didn't see him for days. Shawn started to clean the bathroom and every few minutes he had to stop to move the hamburger and tomatoes around. He would then go back to the bathroom to clean and make sure his bleeding had stopped. By the time dinner was finally cooked Shawn had finished cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom. Shawn went out into the kitchen to get some bowls out for dinner before he told his parents that dinner was ready.

"Did you finish cleaning the whole house?" Virna asked.

"I cleaned the bathroom while dinner was cooking." Shawn answered.

"That didn't answer my question." Virna said with a warning in her voice.

"Sorry, no the whole house isn't clean." Shawn answered.

"Then you don't eat until it's done." Virna said as she took her food and a beer into the living room to eat. Chet was right behind her.

Shawn looked over at the food and he could feel his stomach rumble. He was hungry after not eating for the last few days. All he ate was lunch today and that was the first time since Friday's lunch. He was hungry, but he knew he couldn't upset his mother so he went to start cleaning the living room. His parents didn't even help or say anything to him. Shawn did his best to ignore the smell of the food while he cleaned. He also made sure he didn't block the tv. Shawn swept the floor and cleaned all of the tables and the walls to get rid of the cobwebs. The trailer was always full of spiders, because of where they lived, so they were constantly getting cobwebs everywhere. Once the living room was clean Shawn worked on cleaning the hallway and then his parents' room. He decided to do the kitchen last hoping that his parents would be done eating so he could wash the dishes and then hopefully get to eat. Shawn went into the kitchen and put a plate together for himself so he could wash the pots and pan from dinner. Once the dishes were done and the whole house was clean Shawn cautiously went over to his parents.

"The house is clean mom." Shawn said.

Virna looked at him with nothing but disgust. She wasn't happy with him and Shawn could clearly see that all over her face and worse, in her eyes.

"Go do your homework." Virna turned her attention back to the tv.

"Can I eat?" Shawn asked not wanting to upset his mother and getting another punishment by his father tonight.

"In your room and don't make a mess." Virna said without looking at Shawn.

Shawn left the living room and grabbed his plate of food that was cold now. Shawn didn't care he was hungry so he would eat it. He grabbed his book bag and looked at the clock as he went down the hallway to his room. It was seven thirty at night and Shawn was just now getting to his homework. Shawn sat down on his bed with his book bag and food. He figured he would do the reading first while he ate. Shawn figured that his report he could always do afterwards or he could go into school early to work on it. History class was after lunch so he would be able to work on it tomorrow before he had to hand it in. Shawn opened his History book and started to read the first of five chapters. He knew he would need to be reading it over and over again so he figured he would read all five chapters and then go back and read them again until he understood. Shawn knew he was stupid, even his own parents thought he was stupid so he knew it was true. Parents wouldn't tell their child that just, because. If they told him he was stupid then Shawn knew he was. All Shawn wanted to do was make his parents proud of him and so far he hadn't been able to do that. So he figured he would do anything they said and asked of him. Shawn was hoping that if he could just be the perfect son then they would be proud of him and not leave again. All Shawn wanted was a family in this world and he couldn't let his family leave again after coming back. Shawn focused his attention onto his History book so he could try and get this done tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shawn woke up early the next day so he could go to school and get his History report done. Shawn wasn't able to finish reading his History chapters until midnight. He had read them close to ten times before he finally understood what it was saying. By the time he was finished he was so tired and his face was in pain all he wanted to do was sleep. He didn't even get to his Math homework; thankfully it wasn't due until tomorrow. It was five in the morning now and Shawn had set his alarm so he could be up early and get to the school. He didn't want to deal with his parents or anyone else so this way he could be at school where he could focus on his report. He needed to get it done by third period so he had to get ready to go. Shawn got up and did his best to ignore the pain radiating down the left side of his face. Shawn grabbed his clothes for the day and made his way quietly into the bathroom so he could shower and get ready for school. Shawn looked in the mirror and he couldn't believe what he saw. His whole left half of his face was black and dark purple, his lip was split and the corner of his eye was slightly swollen. Shawn knew he needed a lie and he would need a good one to cover this up. He couldn't hide these bruises so he would need to come up with a believable lie for when Cory and Turner would ask him about it. Shawn couldn't think right now from the pain so he opened the medicine cabinet and took a Tylenol to see if that would help with the pain. Shawn then got into the shower so he could get ready for school. He really didn't want to deal with his parents this morning so he made sure he was as quiet and as quick as possible so he could just get out of here. Once Shawn was dressed and ready for school he looked in the kitchen to see about something for breakfast, but he didn't see anything he could bring with him. It was a lot of uncooked pasta and the fridge didn't hold much of anything. What he did get yesterday after school wasn't much, because they couldn't afford much so there wasn't anything he could bring to school with him. Shawn figured he would just get an apple from the cafeteria at school. Shawn grabbed his book bag and headed out to school.

It was just the beginning of November so the weather was getting awfully cold out. Shawn had his usual leather jacket and a hoodie on underneath to help keep him warm. It wasn't doing much in this early morning wind though, and Shawn found himself shivering within minutes. His jacket was more of a summer jacket and he didn't have a winter one so he just wore a sweater or a hoodie to help fight off the cold, but it wasn't working the closer it got to a full blown winter. Turner had bought him some clothes while he lived there, but he was never there for winter so he never had gotten a proper jacket for the weather. Shawn didn't even own gloves so he just put his hands in his pockets and walked fast so he could get to school where it would be warm. The Tylenol was helping a little with his face, but Shawn could still feel the pain radiating through his head. The cold was making it worse and Shawn could feel a seriously bad headache coming along. Shawn walked as fast as he could so he could get to the school. School didn't start until nine so Shawn would have a good two hours to work on his report by the time he got to school. Shawn didn't know if he would be able to get it done today, but he was going to try his best.

Shawn walked into the school and he instantly felt the heat from the school hitting him. His whole body felt like ice and he was shivering horribly. It was getting colder and colder outside and it was only the start of November, it hadn't even gotten to the coldest month which was January. Shawn figured he would see if Cory had an old winter jacket that he could borrow. The problem was they were different sizes so it usually didn't work out, but he could always see. Maybe they had one from Eric when he was younger that he could use for the winter. Shawn went to his locker and took off his leather jacket, but he kept his hoodie on. He was starting to get warm, but he wasn't that warm yet. Shawn grabbed his binder where his report was and put everything else in his locker. He headed over to the couch along the one wall so he could sit down and work on his report. It was six in the morning and all Shawn wanted to do was curl up and sleep the pain away. Shawn knew he couldn't though, so he opened his binder and started to work on his History report. He figured he would write on the old report then write it out again once he was done editing it. He was there for an hour before Turner walked into the school.

Turner walked down the hall and saw Shawn sitting down at the couch working. Shawn was never here this early, and he had never been here to do his school work before either. All of this was making Turner worry more and more about Shawn. This just wasn't like him. Turner could understand some changes from living with his parents again, but this change just seemed too weird. Shawn went from not doing his homework at all to doing it all the time it seemed like. Now he was here at school early to work on his school work. Turner walked over to Shawn and as he got closer was when he saw the black and dark purple on Shawn's left half of his face. Turner walked faster to get to Shawn and when he was close enough he called out Shawn's name.

"Shawn"

Shawn looked up and saw that Turner was coming right towards him. Shawn knew he would need a good lie and he needed one fast. When Shawn looked at him Turner almost stopped dead in his tracks. It was worse than Turner thought. The complete left half of Shawn's face was one big bruise, his lip was split and his eye was slightly swollen. It looked like someone had beaten him with a two by four. Turner went right over to Shawn and put his bag down so he could look at Shawn. Turner bent down so he was eye level with Shawn and he immediately brought his hands up to Shawn's face so he could turn his head.

"I'm fine Jon." Shawn said softly.

Part of him wanted to tell Turner what happened so he could go and be back with him, but he couldn't disrupt Turner's life any more than he already did in the past year.

"You are not alright Shawn. What the hell happened?"

"It was my stupid brother Eddie. He was mad and drunk and he came over last night when my parents were out. We got into a fight. It's not a big deal. He just doesn't like me, because I left the trailer park and threatened to call the cops when he went after Cory. It's been coming for a while now ever since I moved back." Shawn lied.

Shawn didn't know if Turner would believe him or not, but it was a convincing lie. Turner knew about Eddie and how his life was. So to say that he would have a problem with Shawn wasn't a stretch, because he really did have a problem with Shawn and it could have easily been Eddie that hit him.

"Did you go to the doctors?"

"No, I'm fine really it's just a little sore."

"Shawn your face is swollen. Why are you at school and not at home in bed?"

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to come in early and work on my History report. I have to rewrite it and hand it in to Mr. Feeney today. I was busy last night doing the reading and then Eddie came by. I didn't get the chance to finish it. It's due today and I don't want Mr. Feeney thinking I just blew it off."

"Not that I am complaining, but why the sudden interest in your school work?"

"My mom saw my report card and got upset. I promised her I would try my best to get the grades up. I don't want to break that promise to her." Shawn said softly while he looked down at the table.

Turner stood up and went over to the other side of the couch and sat down beside Shawn.

"What are you doing?" Shawn asked.

"I figured I would help. I read it yesterday at lunch and it was good. You just need to work on your structure and punctuation. Let's see what you got so far." Turner said as he grabbed the report from the table to read.

Shawn had made a few corrections, but he really couldn't understand any of this. His mind just wouldn't work right when it came to reading and writing. Shawn didn't understand why, because in Math he had no problem it wasn't until he got to the word problems that his mind stopped working.

"I know there's a lot wrong with it. I just… I don't know how to explain it. It's like there's this wall in my head that won't let me understand what I'm supposed to do."

"A lot of people have problems with this type of thing. I teach English and I still miss things in my reports. English is the hardest language to learn, so don't beat yourself up over it. We just need a way to figure out how to get around the wall."

"Mr. Feeney said I should try reading it out loud. I have been and it's helped, but I know there's more I'm missing."

"Well there are some simple things to help you remember. First when you use the word but or because you put a comma in front of them."

"Always?"

"Always. When you use however or therefore you use a comma after them. Same with firstly, secondly, thirdly, etc. a comma goes after them."

"Ok"

"See how you have a little sentence here and a little sentence right after it?" Turner said pointing to the two sentences he was talking about.

"Ya"

"They are on the same thought and are small enough you can actually combined them with a semi colon. With the semi colon you now have a proper sentence structure."

"Ok" Shawn said slowly starting to understand some of the punctuation.

Shawn knew he was never going to have it perfect, but if he could just figure out enough to have a passing grade then he would be happy.

"Now for a paragraph when you start a new one you indent it. So you start just a few spaces over from the edge of the page. You start a new paragraph when you talk about a different idea. Like right here you talk about the civil war and how it affected the soldiers. Then the next sentence you go on to talk about their loved ones. That would be a new paragraph, because you are talking about a different point. Do you understand?"

"Ya I think so. So when I move on to a new topic I start a new paragraph?"

"Exactly. Does that help at all?"

"Ya it does. It's a start at least. I know it's never going to be perfect, but hopefully I can get a passing grade."

"You're better than you think Shawn. I read your poem last night." Turner said as he grabbed it from his book bag.

He was going to give it to Shawn in class, but Shawn seemed like he needed the confidence boost. Turner handed Shawn his poem back. Shawn took his poem back and he couldn't believe that he had gotten an A on his poem. It was the first A Shawn had ever gotten in his life and he couldn't believe that he had even gotten one.

"You gave me an A" Shawn said softly.

"I did. Your poem was the best in the class. Shawn this poem was amazing. Dark, but amazing. You have a real talent you shouldn't be hiding it. I am curious where this poem came from. It was very dark or do you always write that dark?"

"I'm not really the type of person to write about rainbows and bunnies Jon."

"No I know you're not. I was just wondering with being back with your parents and in the trailer park if everything is okay?"

"Everything is great. All my poems are like this. I don't know why they just turn out that way. I don't really think too much of it I just write for fun."

"Okay, but you know if you ever need anything or need a safe place to be you can always come to my place. I know you are back with your parents, but I miss hanging out with you. I hope we can still do that."

"Of course."

"Good. Just so you know come the first I'm moving into a new apartment. I went ahead and rented the apartment down on Cobourg Ave. I figured maybe on some weekends you could come over and spend the weekend."

"Really?" Shawn asked with some surprise in his voice.

He didn't think Turner would want him back in his life. He figured that with him now being gone that Turner would be loving all the time he had alone. He could go back to his old life where he didn't have to have any responsibilities. He could just be a bachelor again.

"Well ya Shawn, if that is something you would like to do."

"I just figured you wouldn't want much to do with me now that you have your life back." Shawn said softly while he looked down at the table.

"Shawn, you were a part of my life for a year. We lived together. I was ready to become your guardian. I miss you, I miss hanging out and cooking together. Just, because you are back with your folks, doesn't mean I wanted you to leave. I know you are happy with them so I'm happy for you, but I would still like you in my life as more than just a student/teacher relationship. If that's something you want."

"I'd like that."

Shawn said as he started to write out his report on a fresh sheet of paper. Shawn wasn't good with feelings or talking about them so he took the opportunity to work on his report to end the conversation. He also didn't want to think too much about what all of this meant. If Turner did care about him and got the apartment just so he could visit maybe Turner would be okay if he lived with him again. Shawn couldn't think about that right now, because then he would have to think about how his parents have been treating him recently. Shawn knew he deserved what happened to him. He knew he was being a bad son by talking back and getting bad grades. He just had to be a good son then his parents would love him and they would be able to be a happy family.

"Shawn, you know you really should be home in bed right now."

"I know, but I want to get this done and into Mr. Feeney."

"George would understand when he saw you tomorrow. You have got to be in pain right now."

"I took a Tylenol before I left this morning."

"When was that?"

"Five thirty."

"Why were you up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. The pain woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep; so I decided to come in and do this report."

"Look, why don't you finish writing your report out. I'll bring you home so you can sleep. Or I can bring you to my place, its closer. When I see George today I'll hand it in to him."

"I should be here to get my work that will be assigned."

"You can get it tomorrow. Shawn really you shouldn't be in school. You really should be sleeping right now. Why don't you let me take you home?"

Shawn really didn't want to go back home where his parents might get mad for him not being in school. He also didn't want Turner to be at his house in case his parents get mad about that. Shawn did know that his head was killing him and all he wanted to do was get some sleep.

"I need to finish this report first."

"Okay you write that out. I will go to my classroom and see if I have any pain medication in my desk. I'll be right back."

Shawn just gave a nod and worked on writing out his report with the corrections that were made on the old one. Turner got up and headed to his classroom so he could check and look for any pain medications. Turner was worried about Shawn. Turner didn't know if he believed Shawn when he said that Eddie hurt him, but Turner was hoping that if Shawn was in trouble he would turn to him. Turner knew how much this meant to Shawn to have his parents back, but he thought he knew Shawn well enough to know that he wouldn't endanger himself just to have his parents in his life. What bothered Turner was that his parents didn't keep him home. Even if they weren't there when it happened they would have seen it by now. Turner couldn't understand why they would let Shawn go to school. He should be in bed and going to see a doctor about it. Turner knew that Shawn's parents weren't the best, but even they must see that he was in a lot of pain and should be in bed. Turner was going to take Shawn home and see how his parents were with him. Turner wasn't going to leave Shawn in a place where he felt wasn't safe for him. Turner found some Tylenol in his desk drawer so he grabbed the bottle and went back out to Shawn.

Turner could see the pain all across Shawn's face and he wrote his report out. Turner couldn't believe how determined Shawn was with his homework now. He should be home in bed sleeping, but instead he's at school before it even starts working on his report. Refusing to go home until it was done so he could make sure Mr. Feeney got it. This was a whole different Shawn and Turner wasn't sure how he felt about it. He was glad that Shawn was doing his homework, but he shouldn't be pushing himself too hard to get it done. Turner went over to the couch and sat back down beside Shawn.

"Here take two." Turner said as he handed Shawn the Tylenol bottle.

Shawn took it and took two pills out of it. He got up and went over to the water fountain to take the pills. He was hoping it would help with the pain. Shawn was worried about how his parents would react to Shawn being home from school and from Turner bringing him home. The problem was Shawn was in too much pain and too tired to care what his parents thought about it. Shawn went back over to the couch to keep writing the report out. He was half way done and he just wanted to finish it real quick to go home and sleep.

"Shawn, are you sure everything is okay at home? You know you can tell me anything and I will believe you. I mean that. You can tell me anything."

"Everything is fine Jon. My parents are great."

"Okay, if anything ever happens and you need to talk or a safe place to be. You can always come to me Shawn no matter what time of day it is."

"I'm fine Jon really. Everything is great."

"Ok"

Shawn finished his report up real quick and when he was finished Turner said he would hand it to Mr. Feeney for him. Shawn grabbed his things from his locker and Turner couldn't believe that Shawn didn't have a winter jacket.

"Where's your winter jacket?"

"Oh we haven't gotten one yet. We are on the weekend." Shawn blew it off like it was no big deal.

Turner couldn't believe that his parents hadn't gotten Shawn a winter jacket yet. It was the beginning of November and getting really cold out. Shawn should have had a winter jacket long ago. They went over to Turner's car and they got in. Turner turned the heat up all the way so Shawn could warm up. Once the car was warmed up Turner drove off in the direction of the trailer park. After only driving for a few minutes Shawn fell asleep in the passenger seat. Turner looked over at Shawn and he couldn't help, but feel sad that he was leaving Shawn at his parents. Turner knew that Chet and Virna were Shawn's parents, but Turner couldn't help but feel like they weren't good enough for Shawn. Shawn needed love and reassurance that he was a good kid. Shawn needed reassurance that he wasn't stupid, that he could be something. Shawn had confidence in his social life and in women, but he didn't have any in himself. Shawn needed love and Shawn needed to feel wanted and that he belonged. Turner had a strong feeling that Shawn wasn't getting that from his parents. Turner couldn't believe how much it hurt to see Shawn with those bruises on his face. Shawn was a good kid, just trying to be something more than a townie. Shawn wanted to be more than the rest of his family. He wanted more than to live in a trailer and be part of a gang. Shawn deserved to have a better life. He deserved to have the chance to go to college and be something. Chet and Virna weren't going to be able to provide that for Shawn. Turner was seriously thinking about speaking to them about what is best for Shawn. If they really loved him they would let him go so he could have the best life possible.

Turner pulled into the trailer park and drove to Shawn's home. When he pulled up to the trailer he could see the lights on. Turner turned to Shawn and gently shook his shoulder.

"Shawn, we're here."

Shawn let out a small moan as he opened his eyes. He couldn't believe how exhausted he was. All he wanted to do was sleep. Shawn saw that the lights were on in the kitchen and Shawn knew that one or both of his parents were awake. Shawn took his seatbelt off.

"Thanks for the ride Jon."

"No problem. Come on let's get you inside." Turner said as he took of his seatbelt and turned the car off.

"You don't have to come in. I'm fine."

"I know, but I figured I would say hi to your parents." Turner said as he got out of the car.

Shawn felt his heart go into his throat. He got out of the car, but he didn't know how well his parents would handle all of this. His parents didn't really like Turner especially his father. Shawn didn't understand why his father hated him so much. If it wasn't for Turner Shawn would have been on the streets for that year. Turner took him in and gave him a place to live and food to eat. Turner took care of him for a year. He didn't understand why his father would hate Turner so much after doing all of that. They walked up to the door and as they got closer they could hear Shawn's parents arguing already. Shawn opened the door and sure enough his parents were in the kitchen arguing. They turned to see Shawn and Turner coming into the house.

Turner couldn't believe that Shawn's parents were arguing at this hour in the morning. It wasn't even eight o'clock and there were his parents arguing already.

"What are you doing here? You should be in school." Virna said.

"And what the hell is he doing here with ya?" Chet asked.

"Shawn told me about his fight with Eddie last night. Shawn was at school, but I thought he should be home. I just gave him a ride home. The bruising is pretty bad he really should see a doctor about it." Turner said.

"He shouldn't be missing school. His grades are pathetic. He needs all the school he can get." Virna said.

"His grades aren't great, but he is trying. He shouldn't be in school when he's in pain. That's not going to help his grades improve if he can't focus." Turner said in Shawn's defence.

"Jon, it's okay." Shawn said softly. He was really hoping Turner would let this go so his parents wouldn't get any more upset than they already were.

"He's our son and we will raise him how we see fit to Teach." Chet said.

"You can stay home today, but tomorrow you go to school and catch up on what you missed. We'll take you to the doctor later if that bruising gets worse. Thank-you for bringing him home." Virna said to Turner.

"Thanks for the ride Jon." Shawn said hoping that Turner would leave now.

"I'll see you tomorrow Shawn. Get some sleep." Turner said.

Before he left he took one last look at Shawn's parents and he couldn't help, but feel like he was making a mistake by leaving Shawn here. Turner left the trailer and went into his car. He turned it on and waited a few minutes, but he didn't hear any arguing so he pulled out and left. Shawn couldn't help the fear that was slowly creeping up his spine now that he was alone with his parents. The things that Turner said were bound to upset his parents and that meant that he would be punished for his bad decision. He shouldn't have let Turner take him home. He should have stayed in school. He should have just fought though the pain and then came home at the end of the day and everything would have been fine. He was being a bad son again by coming home and missing school. Shawn was worried he would never learn how to be a good son. He didn't know why he couldn't be a good son to his parents.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to stay, but he insisted that I go home. I didn't know he would come in. I thought he would just drop me off. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry means nothing to me right now. You should be in school not at home. You shouldn't have let him bring you home. I never want him in this house." Virna said.

"We are your parents not him. He doesn't get a say in your life. Are you that stupid that you don't know who your parents are boy?" Chet asked with anger.

"No, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"Sorry means nothing. It's just empty words until you are punished. Then you will learn what you have done wrong and will be sorry for it. How many words do you think that teacher said Chet?"

"At least fifty." Chet answered.

Shawn didn't know what was going to happen, but he knew he would be in a world full of pain. Shawn was scared and he wished he could just go to sleep, but he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Take your jacket, sweater, shoes and socks off now." Virna said in a serious voice.

"Why?" Shawn regretted it the second the words came out of his mouth, but they were already out he couldn't stop them.

"Because I said so!" Virna yelled. "You just earned yourself another punishment. How many more do you want to add on?"

"I'm sorry."

"Take em off!" Virna yelled.

Shawn removed his jacket, hoodie, shoes and socks. He was only standing there in his jeans and his t-shirt. Shawn didn't know what was going to happen, but he was scared for it.

"He said fifty words, so Chet, honey, I think twenty-five punches would suffice for now. Make sure it's in a place where no one can see. We don't need anyone asking anymore questions." Virna said.

"Please. Don't do this." Shawn pleaded with his parents.

"Back talking just earned you another five. Make sure they are strong Chet. He needs to learn his lesson. You are a horrible son and an even more horrible person. You are worthless and if I am going to be here you will behave. So until you learn how to behave you will be punished for everything you do wrong. Seems like you only learn the hard way; so you get to have the hard way." Virna said.

Chet went over to Shawn and Shawn backed up. He didn't want to be hit again. He didn't want any more pain he just wanted to sleep. The first punch came quick and it was to his stomach. Shawn almost collapsed to his knees, but his father didn't care. He just kept punching his stomach and ribs. All Shawn could do was try to stand while it happened and count the punches. He had thirty punches total and each one hurt more than the last. Finally Chet stopped and Shawn fell to the floor grabbing his torso. His whole body hurt and he felt like he would be sick from the punches to his stomach. Chet moved back as Virna spoke.

"Get up."

Shawn did his best to stand up as quickly as he could. He didn't want his father to hit him anymore.

"What do you say?"

"I'm sorry for back talking and bringing Turner here. It won't happen again."

"Now say thank-you to your father for being a good father to you."

Shawn looked up at his father who actually looked proud, like he had done the right thing.

"Thank-you for the punishment." Shawn said softly.

"Good. Now I was going to buy you a winter jacket, but I think after what you have done today and your attitude I won't. You don't need one, you just need to get used to the weather. That teacher said at least fifty words, so you are going to stand outside just like that, you are to stand, not sit, not lean, you are to not talk to anyone. You will stand there like that for an hour. When I come out and get you, then you can come in and you will be in your room for the rest of the night. Do you understand me?" Virna asked.

"Yes."

Virna walked over to Shawn grabbed him by the arm and pulled him towards the door and outside. She made sure Shawn was standing outside where the wind would constantly hit him and so his feet were standing in the snow.

"Don't move until I come and get you." Virna said with a threat in her voice.

She went back inside and Shawn wanted to just curl up and cry. Shawn never wanted to cry, but he couldn't help it. His whole body was killing him and now he was freezing from the weather. Shawn didn't want to be here, he didn't want to feel like this. The problem was he knew he deserved this. He didn't stay in school like he was supposed to. He didn't stay away from Turner like he was supposed to. He brought Turner over to his house and inside with him. He talked back to his parents. This was all his fault and he deserved all of this. Shawn just looked down at the ground and he did the only thing he could do, he waited for when he could go back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It had been five months since the abuse had started, but if you asked Shawn it wasn't abuse. Shawn was not being abused. Shawn was being parented. He was being taught how to be a good son. It was the beginning of March now and the winter was almost over. Shawn's life had gotten worse over the course of the last five months. It was rare when he went out with Cory. They really only talked when they were on lunch or when Shawn's parents went away for the weekend. Shawn had been able to hide all of the bruising from now on. His father stopped hitting him in the face so that way no one would ask any questions. The punishments had gotten worse and worse and more often. It seemed like no matter what Shawn did he just couldn't be a good son to them. Shawn was exhausted he had been doing all of the work these past five months. He would do the grocery shopping, the cleaning, and his school work. In December he found out that his mother was the one working. She was sleeping with people in the trailer park for money. Shawn couldn't believe it. He missed his mother that he had growing up. He missed the sweet woman who would take care of him when he was sick. He didn't know who this woman was now, but he didn't like her. His father had gotten worse. Whatever Virna told him to do, he would do it. He didn't want to lose her so he did anything she said for him to do. Virna never laid a hand on Shawn after that one slap. Now she had Chet do it. That night Shawn spent an hour outside in nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, it wasn't the only time. Virna had made Shawn do it three times a week and if there was a storm she would make him stand out there then as well. Shawn had gotten used to the cold, but he found that he was getting sicker and sicker each time he had to do it.

Another one of Virna's favorite punishments was having Shawn stay awake all night long. Sometimes she would make him stay awake for three days straight. She would stay up with him all night making him clean the whole house with a toothbrush while she drank. He would go to school and she would sleep, then that night it would be the same thing. Shawn found that he was just beyond exhausted all the time that when he did sleep he could barely wake up. Shawn's whole body hurt all the time from the punishments. Shawn knew he deserved each and every one of them, but they still hurt. His back hurt the worse from the lashings. His mother's idea of a new punishment was to whip him with a belt. She would make him take his shirt off and let Chet hit him as hard as he could with the belt. It was always when he would get a bad grade. Shawn's problem was tests; he just wasn't good on them. It was a lot of reading and he had a hard time understanding the questions. He would occasionally pass them, but it would only be a C. That was never good enough for Virna she wanted A's and high B's, but it wasn't easy for Shawn on tests. He needed more time to fully understand the questions.

Shawn was on his way home and he was scared. He didn't have time the other night to read all of his History chapters and yesterday Mr. Feeney had surprised them with a pop quiz at the beginning of the class. He got the quiz back today and he got an F on it. Shawn knew his mother was going to be furious at him for it. Shawn didn't want to be home he really didn't. He wanted to run away and hide from all of this. Turner kept asking him if he was okay and he kept having to lie to him. Shawn was getting really tired of lying to Turner. He felt bad each time he had to do it. All Shawn wanted to do was tell him the truth, but if he did then Turner wouldn't want him either. If Turner knew how bad of a son he was then Turner wouldn't want anything to do with him. He couldn't tell him, because if he lost Turner Shawn didn't know if he would be able to survive this. Shawn walked into the trailer park and he headed home. He was just exhausted and he knew he would be punished when he got home. His mother would search his bag and see the test. Shawn had learned long ago not to try and hide any tests or assignments from her. If he did he would be punished worse than if he had just showed her the test or assignment. Shawn walked into the trailer and he saw that his mother was waiting for him in the kitchen. This was the same routine every day. He would come home to find her waiting there to search his bag for anything he was hiding from her. Shawn didn't say anything he just handed his bag over to her and she placed it down on the table. She looked through it and saw the pop quiz. She took it out and looked at Shawn.

"What is this?" Virna asked with venom dripping from her voice.

"I failed the pop quiz. I'm sorry I didn't know we would have one. I didn't have enough time the other night to understand the chapters."

"Are you giving me excuses?" Virna asked.

"No, I was just trying to explain what happened." Shawn said in a pleading voice.

"I don't care what happened. I care about your grades. This is pathetic and you know it. I will not tolerate this. Why can't you just be a good son like everyone else?" Virna said.

"I'm sorry I'm trying."

"Maybe we haven't punished you hard enough for you to learn. Chet get the belt."

"No please. I'll be good. I'll do better please no more." Shawn begged.

Virna grabbed Shawn by the arm hard and pulled him over to the living room.

"Shut up. For that you will get it worse. Now take your shirt off and turn around." Virna said in a deadly voice.

Shawn knew he couldn't argue so he took his shirt off and turned around. Shawn was covered in bruising, cuts, and welts from the belt. He was also thin, a lot thinner that he should be. It wasn't often that he got to eat anymore. Usually it was only when he was at school, at lunch when he could eat. Shawn wasn't healthy and he knew he wasn't healthy. The problem was he didn't know if he could leave. He wanted to so badly, but he knew Turner wouldn't want him if he knew how bad of a son he was. Shawn knew something was wrong. He was sick all the time; he had bad headaches and even migraines now. Shawn knew he should see a doctor, but there was no money for that and even if there was his parents wouldn't take him. Shawn could hear his father coming towards him and he could hear the clicking of the belt. Shawn knew this was going to hurt, he just didn't know how much. His mother was pissed and it had been a while since she was this mad.

"How many baby?" Chet slurred to his wife.

"Ten" Virna answered.

Chet pulled his arm back and hit Shawn on the back as hard as he could with the belt. Shawn kept the screams in as he learned that would only result in more lashes. It was agonizing, but finally Shawn counted ten. It would be over.

"Now turn around." Virna said.

Shawn turned around as he was told to do.

"Do ten on his front now."

Shawn was shocked that his mother was doing this to him. He thought he was done. He did ten already and she never lashed him on the front before. Chet didn't even think twice he just pulled his arm back and started to hit Shawn on his torso. Shawn found that his front hurt worse than his back. The belt would hit his chest, stomach and his arms. The last one hit his face and Shawn couldn't help the scream that escaped his mouth. That scream resulted in another five lashes to his torso.

"You don't make a sound boy. That's not how a man takes it." Chet said.

"I'm sorry."

"Oh you're not done yet. We've been too soft on you. Chet, ten hits to his head and twenty on this torso. Maybe that will teach you not to fail again."

Shawn was already in an extreme amount of pain and he couldn't take anymore. Chet was already on him punching him with everything he had in him. With each hit Shawn felt the darkness creeping up on him. At some point Shawn ended up on the ground and he was barely conscious. His mother's voice snapped him out of it.

"Get your shirt back on, than get the hell out of here. You will sleep outside tonight in just what you are wearing. I don't want to see you until tomorrow after school. You have two minutes or you will get punished for disobeying me." Virna said.

Shawn did his best to get his body to work, but he was in so much pain. He could feel blood going down his face, his torso and his back. Shawn forced his body to move so he wouldn't be punished anymore. He grabbed his shirt and put it on quickly. It was white and he could feel the blood soaking into the shirt already. Shawn stumbled out of the house and into the cold winter weather. He had his shoes on at least, but he didn't have a jacket or anything to keep him warm. Shawn could barely stay awake, but he knew if he fell asleep out here he would die. Shawn knew he needed help. He knew he couldn't do this anymore. Shawn just started to walk. His body taking him without his mind even knowing. Shawn didn't know how long he had been walking or where he was even going. His mind was completely shut off and his body had taken over. All he knew was he was standing in front of an apartment door and softly knocking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Turner was in his new apartment sitting on the couch mindlessly watching tv. He had been worried for months now about Shawn, but he couldn't get him to open up to him no matter what. Shawn always said everything was fine and great at home. Turner hadn't seen any more injuries on Shawn since that day, but that didn't ease any of Turner's concerns. He had rarely hung out with Cory outside of the school. Cory was worried, the Mathews' were worried and even Mr. Feeney was worried about Shawn. Yes Shawn was doing his homework and getting good grades now, but still he just looked exhausted. Turner could tell that Shawn had lost weight in the last five months and all of this was making him worry more and more about him. Part of him wanted to go down to that trailer park and take Shawn away from there. He didn't care if he was allowed or not. Turner could just tell that something was wrong. Even if it was just his parents arguing, if it was affecting Shawn this much than it wasn't a healthy environment. The problem was Shawn wouldn't open up to him. Every time he asked how his life was going Shawn would say great and busy with school work. Shawn had yet to come by here even for dinner. Every time Turner offered Shawn would come up with an excuse as to why he couldn't go. Turner figured out a long time ago that Shawn wasn't coming over, because his parents didn't want him around Turner. Shawn was getting more closed off and more introverted in these past five months. No one could get Shawn to open up and it was truly worrying everyone.

Shawn's personality was the same around Cory. He still told jokes and fooled around. The only behavioral difference was the school work. Which should have been a good thing, but it came out of nowhere. Shawn would throw himself into the school work, almost as if he was desperate for an escape. Turner didn't know what to do, but he was reaching his breaking point. He was tempted to corner Shawn and kidnap him until he talked about what was going on. Don't get him wrong he was thrilled that Shawn was doing his school work. He was proud of what he had accomplished in just five months. His grades went from F's and D's to high C's and B's. That was huge for someone to do in just five months especially for Shawn; which only made Turner worry even more about Shawn. Shawn never applied himself in school, he never saw the point. Then all of a sudden he is doing his school work and exhausting himself to get it done. It all just seemed too weird and it wasn't just him. The Mathews' and Mr. Feeney thought so as well. They were all worried about Shawn and they were all ready to do something about it.

Turner heard a soft knock at his door so he got up off the couch and headed over to the door. Nothing could prepare him for what he saw when he opened that door. There on the other side of the door was a freezing and bloody Shawn. Turner stood there in complete shock for a minute. He didn't even breathe. Shawn's lips were blue; his face was red and bruising was starting to develop. His one eye was starting to swell as well as the left corner of his lips. He had a cut on his face that was bleeding and what looked like a belt mark on his cheek. His arms were covered in bruising and more welts. His shirt was covered in spots of wet blood, blood that was still coming through the shirt. He wasn't shivering and Turner knew that was a bad sign. Turner snapped out of his mind when he saw Shawn collapse and Turner caught him before he hit the ground. Shawn placed his head against Turner's inner shoulder and he was barely conscious.

"Shawn, look at me." Turner said with worry dripping from his voice.

Turner couldn't do anything, but watch as Shawn's eyes closed. Turner picked Shawn up bridal style and brought him into his apartment. He laid Shawn down on the couch and grabbed the phone to call 9-1-1.

"9-1-1 what's your emergency?" The female operator said.

"I need an ambulance to 1935 Cobourg Ave apartment five."

"What's the need for the ambulance?" The female operator said with a calm voice.

"My student he's fifteen he came to my apartment. He's bleeding, covered bruises. Someone beat him. He was out in the weather his lips are blue and he's not awake."

"Is he shivering?"

"No"

"Okay, the ambulance is on the way. I need you to get as many blankets as you can to cover him up. You need to get his core body temperature up."

"Ok"

"I'll stay on the line until the paramedics arrive."

Turner put the phone down so he could run down the hall to get some blankets. He only had a few, but he grabbed as many as he had then ran back to the couch where Shawn was still unconscious. He wrapped the blankets around Shawn's freezing body then grabbed the phone again.

"I put blankets on him. Should I be trying to wake him up?"

"If he's not shivering then he was out in the weather for a while. His core body temperature is too low that's why he passed out. You won't be able to wake him up until his core temperature goes back up into a safe level. Where is he right now?"

"He's lying down on my couch."

"Good. Just keep him in one spot and the paramedics will take care of him. Do you know what happened?"

Turner could hear typing in the background and he knew she was making a report.

"No I don't. He was barely conscious when he knocked on my door."

"What's his name?"

"Shawn Hunter"

"How old is he?"

"He's fifteen."

"You said he was a student?"

"Yes I'm a teacher at John Adams High School. I've known Shawn since he was in grade nine. He actually lived with me for a year until eight months ago."

"Why was he living with you?"

"His mother left him and his father, and his father went after her. Eight months ago they both came back and Shawn moved back with them."

"Alright the paramedics are almost there."

Turner couldn't believe this was happening. His mind was going a mile a minute. He didn't know what happened to Shawn, but he knew that he was seriously hurt.

"Where does he live?"

"Pink Flamingo Trailer Park."

There was a knock at Turner's door and he went over to answer it.

"The paramedics are here." Turner told the operator.

"I'm going to let you go and the paramedics will take care of Shawn."

"Thank-you."

Turner hung the phone up and answered his door. Sure enough there were two paramedics standing on the other side of the door.

"Come in he's on the couch." Turner said with a slight panic to his voice.

The paramedics came in and Turner didn't even bother to close the door. He went over to the couch with the paramedics to see how bad Shawn's condition was.

"What's his name?" The older paramedic asked.

"Shawn Hunter, he's fifteen."

"Is this your son?" The younger paramedic asked.

"No, I'm his teacher at John Adams High School. He lived with me for a year up until eight months ago when he went back to his parents."

"Shawn, Shawn can you hear me?" The older paramedic asked.

"His core temperature is too low. Let's get these blankets off and see what his injuries are." The younger paramedic said.

They moved the blanket down to Shawn's hips so they could check his torso out. There was even more blood on Shawn's shirt. The older paramedic lifted Shawn's shirt and Turner thought he was going to be sick at what he saw. There were at least ten long bloody lashes on Shawn's chest and stomach. It looked like he was hit with a belt multiple times. He was also covered in bruising and was thin, too thin. Shawn had easily lost fifty pounds in the last eight months. They rolled him slightly so they could see his back and Turner couldn't believe that his back was just as bad. Turner didn't even realise that Shawn was bleeding on his back.

"Call dispatch and have them have police and CPS meet us at the hospital. Someone has been abusing this poor boy for months." The older paramedic said to the younger one.

"Oh my god." Turner said as he brought his hands up to go through his hair.

The younger paramedic spoke into his radio.

"Dispatch this is ninety-one, we're gonna need police and CPS brought down to Jefferson Memorial Hospital. We have a fifteen year old abuse victim."

"I'll contact police and CPS ninety-one." The male dispatcher said.

"We need to get him to the hospital." The older paramedic said.

The younger one grabbed the stretcher and they carefully lifted Shawn up onto it. They strapped him down and they put blankets over him. They would take vitals in the ambulance. Right now they needed to get him to the hospital. His body core temperature was what matter the most right now and in the hospital they would be better equipped to get it back up into normal range.

"Are you coming with us?" The younger paramedic asked Turner.

"Ya."

"Let's go then," the older paramedic said.

They all filled out of the apartment and Turner grabbed his wallet, keys and jacket before he left. He quickly locked the door and ran after the paramedics and Shawn. They loaded him up into the ambulance and Turner got into the back with him and the older paramedic. The younger one went over to the driver side to drive the ambulance. He turned the lights and sirens on and Turner knew that was a bad sign. All he could do was quietly watch as the older paramedic worked on Shawn. Turner didn't know what they were doing, but he knew that the older paramedic was trying to make Shawn better. Turner couldn't believe what he saw. He couldn't believe how many injuries Shawn had that he was hiding from everyone all these months. Shawn must have been in pain for the past eight months and he never let anyone know about it. Turner thought that Shawn trusted him. Turner thought that Shawn would have come to him if something was wrong and now Turner didn't know what to think. Shawn didn't come to him, even when he was being abused he hid it. Turner couldn't understand why Shawn wouldn't come to him for help. He thought that after living together for a year that Shawn would know he could trust him. Turner even got a two bedroom apartment just so Shawn could feel like he could come over whenever he wanted. Shawn hadn't even been there once in five months. Turner didn't know what to do. He knew he needed to focus on Shawn and getting him healthy, but he didn't know why Shawn would hide this from him. Turner knew he was also hiding it from the Mathews, because they would have done something if they found out, they would have called him to inform him of the situation. Shawn hid this from everyone that cares about him. Turner needed to know why. He knew Shawn was a private person, but this was taking it too far. Shawn needed help, he needed it months ago and he should have come to him or the Mathews for it.

They pulled into the emergency entrance at the hospital. The back of the ambulance opened up to reveal a doctor and a nurse ready for the emergency. The younger paramedic came around as the older one took the stretcher out of the ambulance. They all rushed Shawn inside and Turner followed trying to listen to what the paramedic was saying, but he didn't understand any of it. They took Shawn into a room and Turner was stopped by a police officer.

"You can't go in there sir." The officer said.

"I'm the one that called. That's my student."

"I know, I've been informed of the situation from the 9-1-1 operator. You can't go in there though; the doctors need to work on him. I'm not even going in there. Stay out here in the waiting room and when they are able to tell you something they will. A detective will be here soon to ask you questions as well as a CPS representative."

"Are you going to arrest his parents?" Turner asked with some anger in his voice.

"I'm here to take a report from the doctors when they are finished. It looks very much like an abuse case, but we need to speak to Shawn first. We will be investigating this and if Shawn confirms the abuse then we will go and arrest his parents. For now you need to stay calm and just wait for the doctors. A detective will be here shortly to speak to you."

"Ok, what's your name?"

"I'm Officer Riley."

"Thank-you"

Turner walked away from the officer so he could try and get his mind to focus. He knew there were things he needed to take care of. He needed to get his mind to focus before the detective or the CPS representative came to speak to him. Turner went over to the nurses' desk to see if he could use the phone. He needed to call the Mathews and let them know what was going on.

"Excuse me is there a house phone I could use?" Turner asked.

"There is its just right over there on that table. Dial nine to get an outside line then you can dial the number." The young nurse said.

"Thank-you"

Turner went over to the house phone so he could call the Mathews. He would tell them and then he knew they would tell Mr. Feeney about what was going on. Turner picked up the phone and called them. It was just shy of seven o'clock at night and Turner knew they would be up. After a few rings Alan answered.

"Hello."

"Alan, its Jon something's happened."

"What's wrong?" Alan asked with worry in his voice.

"It's Shawn, he's in the hospital. Alan he's been abused for months. He showed up at my place about an hour ago. He's covered in bruises and welts from a belt. I had to call an ambulance he wasn't conscious and he still isn't."

"What hospital?" Alan asked with anger and concern in his voice.

"Jefferson memorial. I'm waiting for a detective and a CPS representative to speak to me."

"We're on our way down there."

"We're in the emergency room still."

"We'll be there soon."

Alan hung up the phone and turned to see his whole family looking at him with concern and worry on their faces.

"Morgan sweetie, I need you to go upstairs and get a bag together to spend the night over at Jessica's." Alan said.

"Why?" Morgan asked.

"Something has come up and we need you to go over there for the night. So please go and get your bedtime things together." Alan said.

"Ok" Morgan said.

She got up from the table and headed upstairs.

"Dad what's going on?" Cory asked with worry and fear in his voice.

"Alan?" Amy asked just as confused.

"That was Jonathan. Shawn's in Jefferson Memorial right now. He was brought in by an ambulance. Shawn's been abused for months." Alan said gently.

"What?" Cory asked shocked.

"By who?" Eric asked.

"His parents. Shawn showed up at Jonathan's apartment about an hour ago. Jonathan called for an ambulance and Shawn passed out. He was still unconscious when they brought him into the hospital. Jonathan said he was covered in bruises and welts from a belt. Jonathan didn't tell me anymore than that about his injuries. He did say that a detective and a CPS representative would be down soon to talk to him."

"We need to be there for that." Amy said.

"That's why Morgan is going over to Jessica's. We need to call her parents to let them know of the situation." Alan said.

"I'll do that." Amy said.

"This can't be possible there must be some mistake. Shawn wouldn't hide this from me. Shawn wouldn't hide being abused from me. I'm his best friend he tells me everything when something is wrong. He wouldn't hide this for months from me." Cory said slightly angry.

"Cor, being abused is different than blowing up a mailbox. We don't know what Shawn is thinking." Eric said.

"That's exactly it. Cory you need to understand that just because Shawn didn't say anything doesn't mean he didn't want to. We don't know what Shawn is thinking. It's very common for abuse victims to think they deserved what was happening to them. Shawn might believe that he wasn't being abused. We won't know until we talk to him." Amy said.

"I'm coming with you to the hospital." Cory said.

"We know." Alan said.

"I'm going to." Eric said.

"I'll call Jessica's parents." Amy said.

"I'll go see if Morgan needs any help." Eric said as he got up from the table.

"I'll go and tell George. He's going to want to know and come with us." Alan said.

"This can't be happening." Cory said with a distant voice.

"It's going to be fine sweetie. Shawn is strong he will make it through this and we will help him." Amy said.

Amy got up to call Jessica's parents so Morgan could go over there for the night. She was still young and a hospital was not a place she should be in. Alan went out the side door so he could speak to Mr. Feeney about what happened. Alan knocked on the door and a few moments later Mr. Feeney answered the door.

"Alan, what can I do for you?"

"Shawn's in the hospital."

"Is he okay? What happened?" Mr. Feeney asked with concern.

"He's not okay. Jon called me just now to tell us what happened. Shawn's been abused for months now. Jonathan said he was covered in bruises and welts from a belt. He was unconscious when the ambulance arrived and he still hasn't woken up yet. Jonathan is at the hospital with him and a detective and a CPS representative will be there shortly to talk to him. We're all going. We figured you would want to know."

"I'm going with you." Mr. Feeney reached into his home to grab his winter jacket and then headed over with Alan to his house.

Amy was still on the phone and Cory was sitting down at the table still in shock. Shawn was his best friend and he had no idea that he was being abused. Cory couldn't believe that Shawn didn't trust him enough with this. Cory told Shawn everything, yet Shawn couldn't tell him about something this serious. Cory didn't know how he felt about all of this besides angry at Shawn. Cory knew he shouldn't be, but he just couldn't help it. Shawn should have told him about this and yet he didn't.

"I can't believe he didn't tell me. I thought I was his best friend. How could he keep this from me?" Cory asked with anger in his voice.

"This is not Shawn's fault. Many abused children hide it from everyone. Most blame themselves for the abuse. Shawn is probably feeling embarrassed, ashamed and guilty." Mr. Feeney said.

"But why would he blame himself for this?" Cory asked as Amy got off the phone.

"She said it was fine to bring Morgan over when we are ready." Amy said.

"Cory, with abuse victims they always think it's their fault. Shawn won't be any different. He might not even admit that the abuse is going on. It might take some convincing to get Shawn to open up about what happened. He's probably thought it was his fault and he deserved what happened." Alan said.

"But that makes no sense. What could Shawn possibly do to deserve to be hit by his parents? He's in the hospital; they put him in the hospital. What could have done that was so bad?" Cory asked.

"Nothing. Shawn did nothing to deserve this. They are his parents. It's their job to protect Shawn and they didn't. Shawn did nothing wrong. They are the ones in the wrong not him." Amy said.

"But why would they do this to him?" Cory asked confused.

"Unfortunately Mr. Mathews that is a question that is not one a person can answer. No one can explain why a parent would hurt their own child. Something is wrong mentally with that parent that makes them think it is okay to hurt their child. It is something that to this day I don't understand." Mr. Feeney said.

Eric and Morgan came down the stairs; Eric was holding Morgan's backpack.

"I'm all set." Morgan said.

"Alright let's get you across the street then we need to leave." Amy said.

"Why?" Morgan asked.

"We have to go to the hospital to see Shawn." Amy answered.

"Why?" Morgan asked.

"Because Shawn is hurt and he needs his family there with him." Amy answered again.

"So his mommy and daddy will be there to?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know sweetie, but we need to get moving now." Amy said in a gentle voice.

Morgan was young she wouldn't understand any of this. They all went out the front door and Amy ran across the street with Morgan to drop her off. Once Morgan was all set across the street Amy came back over and got into the passenger seat. Alan pulled out of the driveway and headed off in the direction of the hospital.

Turner had been pacing back and forth the whole time. He couldn't seem to stand or sit still. No one had come out of the room yet to inform him of what was going on. He was in the waiting room where numerous nurses told him to wait, so he couldn't even see the room that Shawn was in. He didn't know what was going on or if he was even okay. Turner couldn't believe that he never noticed any of the bruising on Shawn before this. Turner remembered five months ago Shawn coming into school with his left half of his face completely bruised. He should have known then that Shawn was lying, but he didn't even think of it. He knew his parents weren't great parents, but he never thought they would hit him. Turner truly believed that Virna would run off again and Chet would go after her, leaving Shawn back with him. Turner truly believed that Shawn belonged with him. In his whole life he never cared about anyone. He lived for himself and that was how he liked it. Until Shawn came into his life Turner was just a carefree bachelor and that's how he liked it. Then Shawn came along and turned his whole world upside down. He barely knew Shawn, but he found himself caring about him and wanting to help him. He took Shawn in and ever since then his whole life had changed for the better. That year with Shawn showed Turner that he could be a parent and he liked it. When Shawn left he had never felt so empty in his entire life. He wanted Shawn back home where he belonged and was safe.

Roughly thirty minutes later the whole Mathews family and Mr. Feeney walked into the emergency waiting room. They all looked worried and scared and Turner couldn't blame them. They came right over to him and Mr. Feeney spoke first.

"Do we know anything?"

"No, no one has come out yet."

"Okay start at the beginning what happened?" Alan asked.

"It was around six when I heard the knock at the door. I went and answered it and it was Shawn. He was barely conscious, his lips were blue; he was covered in bruising and blood. He collapsed and I grabbed him. I tried to keep him awake, but he passed out before I could even really talk to him. I brought him into my place and put him on the couch. I called 9-1-1 and the operator said to put blankets on him to get his core temperature up. He wasn't shivering, which is apparently a bad sign. The paramedics came and they pulled the blankets back and lifted his shirt. He had lashes all over his chest and stomach; it looked like he was whipped with a belt. He was covered in bruises and he was thin, he was really thin. They rolled him over and his back was just as bad. The lashes were still bleeding. They didn't even take any vitals they put him in the ambulance right away and brought him here. I haven't heard anything." Turner said with a shaky voice.

They were all quiet as their minds tried to digest this information. Shawn was horribly beaten by his own parents. It was too much for one boy to go through. Shawn didn't deserve any of this and he should never have had to go through it.

"Did they say how long this had been going on for?" Alan asked.

"The paramedic said it looked like months. He had different stages of bruising and older lashes on his back that were healing. My guess would be five months. He came into school with his left half of his face completely bruised. That could have been the first time." Turner said.

"But Shawn said that came from his brother Eddie. If it was his parents why would he lie about it?" Cory asked.

"Unfortunately that is what abuse victims do, they lie until they can't take anymore." Turner said.

"So what happens now?" Eric asked.

"There was an officer by the room that Shawn is in. His name is Officer Riley he said that a detective would be by soon and a CPS representative. Hopefully I'll be able to have temporary custody of Shawn for now." Turner said.

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" Cory asked.

"Because of protocols. They might have to have Shawn go to a foster home. Hopefully we can convince them otherwise." Mr. Feeney said.

"Shawn won't stay in a foster home." Alan said.

"No he'll just run away. I think this is them." Turner said as two well-dressed adults walked into the waiting room.

One was an older man in his late forties dressed in a dark brown suit. The other was a young woman in her mid-thirties in a grey suit. They walked over to the group of them before they spoke.

"Are you here for Shawn Hunter?" The older man asked.

"We are. Are you the detective and the CPS representative?" Turner asked.

"My name is Detective Conner and this is Miss. Wilson with Child Protective Services. We need to speak to you about what happened tonight and about Shawn. We should do this in private away from the children."

"Anything you tell us, we are just going to tell them. Cory is Shawn's best friend. We don't have secrets in our house." Alan said.

"Very well. Who found Shawn?" Detective Conner asked.

"Technically no one did. He showed up at my apartment." Turner said.

"Okay, explain what happened."

"It was around six when I heard the knock at the door. I went and answered it and it was Shawn. He was barely conscious, his lips were blue; he was covered in bruising and blood. He collapsed and I grabbed him. I tried to keep him awake, but he passed out before I could even really talk to him. I brought him into my place and put him on the couch. I called 9-1-1 and the operator said to put blankets on him to get his core temperature up. He wasn't shivering, which is apparently a bad sign. The paramedics came and they pulled the blankets back and lifted his shirt. He had lashes all over his chest and stomach; it looked like he was whipped with a belt. He was covered in bruises and he was thin, he was really thin. They rolled him over and his back was just as bad. The lashes were still bleeding. They didn't even take any vitals they put him in the ambulance right away and brought him here. I haven't heard anything." Turner recalled again.

"Is this the first time you have ever seen any injuries to Shawn?" Detective Conner asked.

"No five months ago Shawn was in school early in the morning. His whole left half of his face was covered in bruises, his lip was split and the corner of his left eye was a little swollen." Turner answered.

"Did he say where it came from?" Detective Conner asked.

"He said his older brother Eddie was drunk and they got into a fight."

"And at the time that seemed possible?" Detective Conner asked.

"Shawn lives in a trailer park on the rougher side of town. His older brother Eddie doesn't like Shawn, because Shawn got out of the trailer park for a year." Turner said.

"What do you mean by that?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"Almost nineteen months ago Shawn's mother Virna left. She took off with the trailer and left Shawn and Chet, his father, homeless. Chet told Shawn that he was going to go after Virna to get her and the trailer back. Shawn stayed at the Mathews for what was supposed to be only a few days. It turned into three weeks and no one had heard from Chet during that time. He finally called and said he wouldn't be coming back any time soon. He wasn't coming back until he had Virna again, even though he found the trailer. A small argument happened and Chet was on speaker phone. Shawn overheard the conversation and got upset. He grabbed his things from upstairs and climbed out the window. I caught him outside and had him stay with me. He was with me for a year before Chet and Virna showed up out of nowhere. For the last eight months he has been living back in the trailer park." Turner explained.

"They both just took off? Did either of them contact Shawn or provide any financial support during that year?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"His mother never contacted him. Chet did by phone or a letter every twenty-eight days. Shawn would always be upset by it, especially when the letters were mailed from a location only forty or fifty miles from where we lived. Shawn didn't see either one of them for a year." Turner said.

"And neither helped with financial support of their son?" Miss. Wilson asked again.

"No, they aren't one for money. Shawn only had a small bag full of clothes to his name." Turner said.

"Shawn wasn't used to having things. In his room he has a mattress and box spring on the floor, there's no sheets just a small old blanket and one pillow. His dresser doesn't work and his desk can't even be used, because of how old it is. Shawn never had much." Cory explained.

"I didn't know that." Turner said.

"We didn't either. Cory why didn't you ever tell us?" Alan asked.

"Shawn's private he didn't like people knowing. That was normal to him. When he stayed over he always said it felt like he was in some fancy hotel. Having nothing was normal for him." Cory explained further.

"How long have you known Shawn?" Miss Wilson asked the group.

"I've only known him just shy of two years." Turner said.

"We've all known him since he was six." Amy answered.

"I was his teacher for many grades. I'm still his teacher now for some subjects." Mr. Feeney said.

"During those nine years have there ever been times when things didn't seem right?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"He's never been hurt if that is what you are asking." Amy said.

"Not just hurt, but seemed neglected." Detective Conner explained more.

"A lot of the times Amy and I have felt that his parents weren't doing their job. There would be many weekends that Shawn would spend over at our place. During the winter sometimes he would spend a week here and there with us, because his parents didn't pay the heating bill and they had no heat. There have been a few times where we have lied to him about buying clothes or shoes when he needed them. Shawn didn't like hand-outs or charity. So we used to tell him they were old clothes of Eric's. There were a few winters where he didn't have a jacket. There were a few times where he needed new shoes, but there was no money for it." Alan said.

"Really? I didn't know you did that." Cory said.

"From the first day that Cory brought Shawn over we could tell that he had a hard life already. From that day on we always let Shawn come over no matter what time of the day it was. Shawn used to sneak in at night through Cory's bedroom window and spend the night. We never said anything we just continued to let him. Any time in the morning he was there early for breakfast we never asked questions we just acted like it was nothing." Amy said.

"We have always treated Shawn like he was one of our own. For nine years we were there for him, when he got into trouble at school, when he needed a place to stay to get away from his father. We always welcomed Shawn and gave him a safe place to be. We've always made it so he could tell us anything without having to be scared of any negative repercussions. I truly thought that he would tell us when something was wrong, but for some reason this time he didn't." Alan said.

"You said a safe place away from his father. What do you mean by that?" Miss. Wilson asked.

"When Shawn was younger, about seven, he told us how his father drinks a lot and then yells. Sometimes he would yell all night long at anyone that was around. When Shawn couldn't handle it he would sneak out at night and come over to our place. It was part of the reason why we never told Shawn he couldn't come over." Amy said.

"So there obviously has been neglect over the years. We could always arrest them for that." Detective Conner said to Miss. Wilson.

"What do you mean?" Turner asked.

"The problem with child abuse cases when they are of Shawn's age is they need to admit its' happening. Shawn isn't six or seven; he can talk for himself and tell us what happened. If Shawn refuses to admit that one or both of his parents abused him then we can't arrest them for it."

"What do you mean you can't arrest them for it? How else could he have gotten this hurt?" Eric asked with anger.

"The problem is Shawn is from a rough area of town. He could simply say that a gang attacked him. He could say that a gang has been harassing him in the trailer park. If Shawn doesn't admit to his injuries and he has a legitimate excuse for the injuries we can't arrest his parents." Detective Conner explained.

"So what he just goes back to them and is abused more? How does that help him?" Turner asked with anger in his voice.

"I didn't say Shawn would be going back to his parents. If nothing else they can be arrested for neglect. Injuries are easy to hide from teachers and friends, but to hide them from his parents would have been almost impossible. They should have noticed the injuries and done something. If nothing else they should have noticed that Shawn is not home right now. We can arrest them for neglect so Shawn wouldn't be going back there." Detective Conner said.

"Where would Shawn go?" Mr. Feeney asked.

"He would go to a foster home until he turned eighteen." Miss. Wilson said.

"I understand that is protocol, but Shawn could just stay with me." Turner suggested.

"It is protocol for Shawn to go to a foster home. Especially during this type of investigation." Miss. Wilson said.

"If you put Shawn Hunter in a foster home all you are going to get is endless calls of him running away. Shawn would rather live on the streets then in a foster home." Alan said.

"It is protocol for him to be in a foster home. If he runs away the foster parent could decide to put him in Juvenile hall until he stops running away. He needs to understand he can't be running away or there could be negative effects." Miss. Wilson said.

"I mean no disrespect, but you don't know Shawn and you don't know what is best for him. He's been abused for months the last thing he needs is to be with strangers. He needs to be with people he feels safe with and that is not a foster home. In the nine years that we have known Shawn he's been in trouble with the law, in trouble in school, he's always at our house. The only time he actually was better and happy was when he spent the year with Jonathan. In one year Shawn was happy, he didn't sneak out at night, he wasn't coming over early in the morning or spending weekends at our house. Ever since he has been with Jonathan he's been completely different. He's been better." Amy said.

"In nine years that Shawn has been my best friend he's always called the trailer a trailer. Never his home. When he lived with Mr. Turner that was the first time he ever called the place he was stay at his home. He never stayed out late with me. He used to say he had to get home so Mr. Turner wouldn't worry. For the first time in Shawn's life he thought of a place as a home. You can't let him go anywhere else." Cory said.

They could tell that both Detective Conner and Miss. Wilson were thinking about what everyone had to say. This wasn't the normal and typical abuse case. Shawn was different and he would do a hundred times better in Turner's care then a complete stranger's care.

"I'll speak to my supervisor and see what he has to say about this. That's all I can do for right now." Miss. Wilson said.

"We know you want the best for Shawn. Him being in a foster home would only make him worse. He doesn't trust people very easily. It takes a long time for him to trust someone. He needs to be in a place where he feels safe." Turner said.

"I'll see what I can do. I can't promise anything. In the end it's his call."

"So what happens now?" Alan asked.

"Now we wait for the doctor to finish with Shawn. Once we know of his injuries and he is awake we will speak to him privately. We will be speaking to him before anyone else will, so there is no confusion or risk of anyone putting words in his mouth. It's protocol for cases like this. It's very easy for a victim to change their story after someone said something to them. We want to see if he will admit it or not. Once we are finished then other people can see him. If he doesn't admit to the abuse then we will have to go from there." Detective Conner said.

"What if Shawn admits to the abuse in a few days? Will that change what happens or will the time frame to admit to the abuse have passed?" Mr. Feeney asked.

"The statute of limitations on child abuse varies based on age. For Shawn we can still charge one or both of his parents until he is eighteen. After that we won't be able to. It's common for abuse victims to deny it right away. It usually takes a few days or months for the person to finally admit to the abuse. We don't expect Shawn to admit it when we speak to him. He might, but it's not common or likely that he will." Detective Conner said.

"Either way though he won't be going back to his parents?" Amy asked.

"He won't be. From what you have told us and depending on the past injuries this is at least neglect." Miss. Wilson said.

"For now all we can do is wait until the doctor has finished with Shawn. After we speak to the doctor and Shawn we will come and speak to you." Detective Conner said.

"Thank-you." Turner said.

The detective and the CPS agent left them in the waiting room.

"So we just wait?" Cory asked after a few minutes of silence.

"That's all we can do for right now. When the doctor is ready he will come out to speak to us about Shawn." Alan said.

Mr. Feeney went and sat down in one of the many chairs in the waiting room. Turner still couldn't sit or stand still. He was too worried about Shawn and the longer he went without knowing if he was okay the worse it got. Turner knew that the longer the doctor was in with Shawn the worse it was. Turner didn't know how bad Shawn's injuries were, but he knew that they were bad enough for the paramedics to not even treat Shawn before they took him into the ambulance. They had a long wait ahead of them and all they could do was wait for word on how Shawn was doing. Unfortunately that word didn't come until three and a half hours later. It was ten thirty at night when a doctor finally walked out to speak to them. Everyone had sat down finally after the many hours they had to wait. It was getting late at night and it was clear that everyone was tired. They had all been up early that morning to go to school, so by ten thirty at night they were all ready for bed. The doctor walked over to them and when he was in front of them he spoke.

"Are you here for Shawn Hunter?"

The doctor was on the older side, clearly not far from retirement. He had grey hair, blue eyes and he looked just as tired as they did.

"We are." Turner said as he sat up straighter.

"My name is Doctor Roberts and I have been Shawn's doctor since he arrived. I'm sorry it took me so long. There were some things that came up along the way. Who are you all to Shawn if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm Jonathan Turner I'm his teacher and Shawn lived with me for a year eight months ago."

"I'm Alan Mathews and this is my wife Amy and my two sons Cory and Eric. Cory is Shawn's best friend. We've known him for nine years now."

"I'm George Feeney I've known Shawn since he was six and have been his teacher."

"His parents haven't been in?" The doctor asked.

"No." Turner answered.

"Alright, Detective Conner and Miss. Wilson are speaking with Shawn now. He's very tired, but they wanted to talk to him real quick before they left for the night. They will most likely be back tomorrow to ask more questions. Why don't we go into another room away from the children."

"We have no secrets in our house. Anything you tell us we are just going to tell them." Alan said.

"Very well. Follow me and we can discuss everything in detail."

The doctor left the room with everyone following behind him. They walked down the hall and went into another room. It wasn't an office it was more of a conference room for doctors to go over a patient's chart. There was a file on the table already and they knew it would be Shawn's.

"Let me start by saying that Shawn will make a full recovery. There were a lot of injuries and I will do my best to explain them. If you have any questions please ask them and I will do my best to answer and explain more. Alright?"

They all just gave a nod and the doctor began to explain.

"Shawn has many different levels of injuries. Some were only an hour or two old and some were a couple months old. The bruising on his torso and arms were in different stages of healing which tells us that he has been abused. My best estimate would be five months based on the injuries. With bruising only time will heal it. Now the lashes on his back and torso, there was twenty-five new ones from this evening. On his back there were another twenty in different stages of healing. We cleaned them and none of them required stitches thankfully. They will be painful for a good two weeks until they have healed more. One hit his left half of his face and that one was powerful enough to cut his skin to the point where he needed stitches. He took twenty stitches to his left cheek. The stitches need to be in for two weeks and then they can be taken out. He has three broken ribs on his left side and two bruised ribs on his right side. We have taped them to keep them in one place and then wrapped a tension wrap around his ribs to help give them some padding. The three broken ribs will take roughly six to eight weeks to heal. He'll be in pain from them for a good month. Is there any questions so far?"

"Will he be on pain medication?" Turner asked.

"He will be going home with pain medication. With his age we don't want to give him anything too strong. Right now he is just on Tylenol 3's and that seems to be working for him. Obviously we don't want to give a fifteen year old that strong of a narcotic. If the pain worsens which it will by morning and he needs something stronger than we can give him a low dose of morphine to help."

"How long will he be in the hospital for?" Alan asked.

"That depends on a few other things. His injuries are unfortunately not the biggest problem. If it was just his injuries alone then he could be home in three days, but that's not the case right now."

"What else is wrong with him?" Cory asked.

"Shawn was beaten consistently by someone easily twice if not three times his size, which makes me think his father. I haven't seen the man myself, but based on the level of his injuries I'm assuming he's a bigger guy."

"He has a good amount of weight on him." Turner said.

"Most abusers won't hit the person in the same spot, because it causes too much damage to be person's body. Shawn's father did not do that. Shawn was hit frequently in the same spot on his stomach causing him to have internal bruising on his liver and one kidney."

"What will that do to his organs?" Amy asked.

"Thankfully the damage was not at a level to make his kidney and liver fail. He will be in a great deal of pain until the bruising heals. Internal bruising takes longer to heal then normal bruising. It will take roughly three to five months to be fully healed. In that time you will notice a few things. Right now in the corner of his eyes there is a slight yellow tint to them, that's from his liver. His fingertips might get a yellow tint to them as well. If the yellow gets darker, goes all across his eyes or his skin gets a yellow tint to it then he needs to come in right away. That is a clear sign that his liver is failing and we will need to act on it as quickly as possible. From his kidney it will hurt to urinate and it might have a slight pink tint to it. If he ever urinates pure blood then he needs to be brought in as his kidney would be failing. The bruising is bad, but it's not to that level so I don't see that happening, but it's something to look out for. Do you understand?"

"Is that all of his injuries?" Mr. Feeney asked.

"No it's not. Have you noticed Shawn being more tired than usual, dizzy, or extreme headaches and migraines?"

"He's had some headaches in the last five months. He's been tired a lot, but he's also been working on his schoolwork a lot." Turner said.

"Shawn has an extreme concussion. What makes it to the extreme level is that roughly five months ago Shawn got a low-level concussion. Normally that wouldn't be too much of a problem; however, before it was healed he received another blow to his head to make the concussion worse. This has been happening for five months now. So Shawn has had a concussion for five months, which is extremely dangerous. It can cause brain damage and nerve damage. I did a CT-Scan and thankfully he was fine, he got lucky. The concussion is giving us cause for concern and because of the concussion we don't want Shawn going home for at least a week."

"How long will it take for the concussion to be gone?" Eric asked.

"He needs a good month of not doing much of anything. Once he leaves the hospital he will be on bed rest. He can be in bed and he can be sitting on a couch, but that's it. I know he's in school and he can continue to do his school work, but from home. I would hate for him to lose a whole semester over this. He needs to be careful of his head; so not being in a car unless he has to be, no sports or anything that could potentially injure his head further. The concussion combined with the level of exhaustion will make him a little confused for the next couple of days. Once he has spent a good three days just sleeping and resting the level of exhaustion will decrease and the confusion will go down."

"Will there be any permanent damage?" Alan asked.

"There won't be as long as he doesn't further injure his head. Like I said he needs to be on bed rest. He can do his school work, but from home and if he is getting too tired he needs to focus on just resting. He can't push his body or he won't heal properly."

"Well make sure that he puts his health first." Turner said.

"There are a few more issues that Shawn has. His body is exhausted and malnourished. He's seventy-five pounds, ideally he should be weighing one-fifty, so he's seventy-five pounds underweight. If I had to guess he's eaten a maximum of once a day some days not at all. He hasn't been sleeping enough each night and that is affecting his body. It's making him feel weak and rundown. He needs to start eating properly and at least three times a day. For now he should be eating three small meals a day to get his body used to eating again. Either his parents are starving him on purpose or there just isn't enough money for food. Either way he needs to start eating healthy and more often to get his weight back to an average level for his age and height."

"Our school offers free lunch to all of our students. We deal with middle and lower class of society. Half of the school has parents that can't afford food so we have always offered a free lunch." Mr. Feeney said.

"So it's possible that is the once a day meal he is eating. It's good that your school provides that for the students. I can't tell you how many children I have seen that are malnourished, because there just wasn't money for food. Shawn's concussion is our first concern the second concern we have is the pneumonia."

"He has pneumonia too?" Cory asked. Cory couldn't believe how much Shawn had been through in the last five months.

"He does and it's extreme. When he was brought in his lips were blue from the weather and he wasn't shivering, which tells us that his core temperature was low. We have warmed him up, but he's still cold and will be for a day or so. He was having some trouble breathing so I did an X-ray of his lungs and his right lung was full of fluid from the pneumonia. A nurse drained the fluid and his lungs are now clear. He is on a strong anti-biotic IV and will be on that for five days. He will then be transferred to a pill he can take for another three weeks. Three weeks after he is discharged he will need to come back and I will then do another X-Ray to make sure the pneumonia is being cured. If not then I will have to change the prescription and he might have to be in the hospital if the pneumonia is not going away. I don't want to scare you, but if this wasn't treated in two weeks he would have been dead."

"It was that bad?" Turner asked.

"Shawn has the worst case of pneumonia I have ever seen in my career. The fluid is gone, but we need to keep a close eye on it to make sure it doesn't reproduce. For lack of better words Shawn is going to feel like crap for a good couple of weeks. My concern with the pneumonia is that it didn't come from a cold. Sometimes a cold can develop into something more such as pneumonia or bronchitis. In Shawn's case this wasn't what happened. On the bottom of Shawn's feet there is a low grade of frost bite, which can only happen if he was standing out in the snow with bare feet. I can't be certain, it's something only Shawn would be able to confirm, but it's my belief that Shawn was kept outside for hours at a time. It would have been an hour here and there over the course of a few months for the pneumonia to get this bad, but that is what the evidence is pointing towards."

"They kept him outside?" Cory asked with hurt in his voice.

"My best assumption is that Shawn was outside for an hour here and there over months in just a shirt and jeans. He also doesn't have a medical file anywhere past the age of one. This tells me that his parents never took him to a doctor, so they must have had a doctor that retired or lost their license to look at him if he ever got a broken bone or sick. It's neglectful, but the problem is Shawn hasn't had any vaccinations since he was one. Shawn was missing many important vaccinations to protect him from dangerous diseases and boosters. I've given him ones that he has missed and over the course of the next week he will be getting more. I can't give him all of the ones he missed in one shot so I have to spread it out over the week. When he leaves he will be all caught up on vaccinations. I would also like to state that there will be no hospital bill for this. Shawn has been horribly abused in just five months. I'm not about to hand someone a bill for all of this. Shawn is a fifteen year old abuse victim; he needs to be the focus and not trying to pay off a hospital bill that would be ridiculously high. So there is no charge for any of this."

"Thank-you." Turner said with some relief in his voice. He truly didn't know how he would be able to pay a hospital bill this large.

"That is all of Shawn's injuries. There was one thing that caught my attention on his CT-Scan. How is he in school? How are his grades?"

"They've gotten better in the last five months. He's always had F's and D's and in the last five months he's tried to do his schoolwork and he's brought his grades up to C's and B's. Why?" Turner asked.

"Has he always had bad grades even when he was little?"

"Shawn's always had bad grades. In grade six he pretty much just gave up on school." Mr. Feeney said.

"In the past five months have you noticed he was better in Math than say English or Science?"

"He has a higher grade in Math than his other subjects." Mr. Feeney answered.

"Does he get a higher grade on assignments then tests?"

"He does. Why are you asking?" Turner asked.

Doctor Roberts went over to the file and pulled out the CT-Scan picture. He placed it on the wall and flicked the light on so you could see the picture of Shawn's brain.

"Do you see this darker spot on Shawn's brain?" Doctor Robert asked pointing to the darker spot on Shawn's brain.

"What is that?" Cory asked.

"This is Shawn's occipital lobe; it's what helps Shawn understand reading and writing. The shading on it shows that there is brain damage in that area."

"He has brain damage?" Turner said he couldn't believe he never noticed. All the problems Shawn had with reading and writing proper English was because of the brain damage.

"He does and from what I can see it happened when he was around the age of four. He would have had some kind of impact to the back of his head. It could have been a fall from a high height or from a strong hit to the back of his head. He was never brought into the hospital so this was never caught. Usually it would be noticeable in school, but because of his young age it would have been overlooked. Shawn probably tried until the sixth grade to get good grades, but anything he did wouldn't have worked. He just wouldn't have understood the reading material and how to write properly. From what you have said, come the sixth grade he just gave up. Why he decided to try all of a sudden is probably, because of the abuse. It's possible he was being forced to try or he used it as a means of an escape from reality."

"But why would he be getting good grades now and not when he was younger when he tried?" Cory asked.

"Shawn is working extremely hard to get those grades. For people that don't have brain damage in the occipital lobe you can read a chapter in a book once and understand what it was about and what was said. For Shawn he would have to read that same chapter at least ten times, it might be more, before he understands what was in that chapter. When he was younger he would have read the chapter and not understood it, he probably thought he was just stupid and gave up after a while. He's getting the grades now, because he's reading the material over and over and over again until he understands. He would have a hard time writing proper English. grammar and punctuation would be hard for him to understand and he wouldn't be able to spell to save his soul. If he spells the same word multiple times then he will remember how to spell it and then he can spell it right each time. He would be good in Math, numbers he would excel at. When you introduce a word problem it doesn't matter how long he has he would never be able to figure out the answer. The second you put words and numbers together his mind can't process it. That's why in Science there's nothing he can do he'll fail it every time. His mind simply can't separate the words from the numbers. Tests would be extremely hard for him, because he would have to read the question so many times and then get the right wording down for the answer. A single question could take Shawn twenty to thirty minutes to answer. Obviously that doesn't work in his favor when he only has seventy-five minutes to write a whole test. So what Shawn is doing on tests is reading the question once or twice and just guessing on the answer."

"Is there something we can do to help him?" Amy asked.

"There are a few things you can do to help Shawn get his brain to think differently. It will take someone with a lot of patience, but there are things that can be done to help Shawn."

"Like what?" Turner asked.

"Math he understands, word problems he doesn't. So simply sitting with Shawn and talking the word problems out and explaining them until he understands. Same with Science, Science will be his worst subject, because of all the words and numbers mixed together. The best way to help Shawn would be to sit down and do the homework together. If he is assigned chapters in a novel or in a subject sit down together and read the chapter out loud. Once the chapter is read review it and talk about it. Explain words that he doesn't know, explain sections that he didn't understand. Once he understands that chapter move on to the next and do the same thing, except review both chapters so his mind remembers. It will take a while, but eventually Shawn's brain will rewire itself so he can do the work on his own. These are things that should have been done when he was little, but the injury went ignored for all of these years so Shawn never got to work around the brain damage. Basically it's like teaching a four year old how to read and understand the reading, but in a grade ten level. Don't treat him like he's stupid or slow, because he's not. The fact that Shawn is able to get C's and B's on his own with this injury tells me that if he never had the brain damage he would be close to a genius IQ. He just needs to learn how to work around the brain damage and rewire his brain to comprehend the reading and writing."

"We should have seen it. All the assignments he's handed in and understood the material, yet he failed tests on the same material. We should have caught this." Turner said.

"What will this injury do for his chances of being in College?" Mr. Feeney asked.

"The main problem will be the SAT's. If Shawn puts the work in and if a few exceptions are made then he will be able to go to College without a problem. Usually you only get five hours for the SAT's even if Shawn has been able to rewire his brain five hours won't be enough for him to write the SAT's. Same goes for tests he needs more time. If possible to give Shawn a chance, have him go to an empty classroom to sit and write the test for as long as he needs, even if it takes him the whole school day. As his brain begins to rewire and comprehend the reading and writing that time will go down, but he might never be able to write a test in seventy-five minutes. The brain damage can go into his school file that will be transferred to a College and they might accommodate him as well for due dates and test times as well. He is capable of going to College like everyone else. It will just take him a little longer to understand the material, but if he puts the work in then he'll do really well."

"So it is possible for Shawn to go to College and have a corporate job." Amy said.

"Absolutely and he needs to understand that as well. He needs to understand that he's not stupid. He is speaking with Detective Conner and Miss Wilson. When they are finished you can go in and speak to Shawn. He is exhausted so don't push him for answers regardless of what Detective Conner and Miss Wilson was able to get out of Shawn. Save hard questions for tomorrow, just see him and then go home and get some sleep yourself. Tomorrow you can see him and ask him questions, for tonight he needs rest."

"We understand and we won't pester him with questions." Amy said.

"If you have any more questions a nurse will know how to get a hold of me. I'll be in tomorrow to check on Shawn."

"Thank-you for everything you did for Shawn." Turner said.

"We appreciate it." Alan said.

"I'll be in tomorrow to check on Shawn. A nurse will be coming by to check on him every three hours to make sure he is alright. He needs to be woken up every three hours and asked basic questions, because of the concussion. If Detective Conner and Miss Wilson clears it then one of you can spend the night with him. You just have to check with them, because it might affect the investigation."

"I'll ask to see if they will let me spend the night." Turner said.

"I will see you all tomorrow. You can go back and wait in the waiting room; they will meet you there once they are done speaking with Shawn."

"Thank-you." Mr. Feeney said.

Doctor Roberts left the conference room with Shawn's file leaving everyone behind in the room. The room was silent for a good five minutes. Each person was trying to understand the seriousness of this situation. Shawn almost died from pneumonia. Something that could have easily been avoided if his parents hadn't abused and neglected him. Not only that, Shawn had brain damage from when he was four years old. Something happened to Shawn that he received brain damage from it. Shawn didn't even know about it at all, he just thought he was stupid when he wasn't. Shawn was seriously hurt and it would take a good few months before he was fully healed physically. Not only that he had a long road ahead of him to get over the brain damage and effect it has on Shawn's learning ability.

"We should go back out into the waiting room and wait for the detective and Miss. Wilson." Mr. Feeney said after five minutes of silence.

They all filed out of the room and headed back down the hallway to the waiting room to wait some more. Once there Turner couldn't help, but sit down in one of the chairs. He couldn't believe what he had just heard and he didn't even know where to begin to help Shawn through all of this. Shawn wasn't a kid that talked about how he was feeling and what he was thinking. Shawn kept a lot of personal feelings to himself. His family wasn't big on hugs and talking about how you feel. They were hard and distant from each other. They didn't care about family and they would often use it to their advantage where the police were involved. Turner honestly didn't know if Chet's family would turn on him if the police came knocking about any abuse towards Shawn. Cory sat down and so did Eric. Amy, Alan and Mr. Feeney stood. They all knew they needed to talk about this and come up with some kind of plan as to where to go from here. Shawn would need help in the next few months with his physical injuries. Not to mention the help he would need for school work.

"Mr. Turner, if you are able to have temporary custody of Shawn then I can have you on parental leave from work. You will still have your full pay and up to six months off. I can have a substitute teacher take over your classes. If Shawn wants to keep up with his school work he can. Yourself, Mr. Williams and myself are Shawn's only teachers this year. We can give him the work for the week and he can do it at home." Mr. Feeney said.

"What about tests?" Amy asked.

"As far as I am concerned Mr. Hunter is going to need all the help he can get with this brain damage. He can take the tests home and bring them back the next day. That way if he needs help understanding the questions then he can ask Mr. Turner." Mr. Feeney said.

"We should have seen this. All the tests and assignments, we should have seen that something was wrong with Shawn. When he was trying to rewrite that first History report he told me trying to write proper English there was a wall in his mind he couldn't get through. I should have known something was wrong then. I should have done something five months ago when he had that bruise on his face. I shouldn't have believed him when he said it was Eddie." Turner said.

"It's not your fault Jonathan. We all believed that story; it made sense for Eddie to have a problem with Shawn after he threatened to call the police on him. None of us thought twice about it." Alan said.

"I should have. I drove him home; his parents were arguing at eight o'clock in the morning. I shouldn't have left him there. I should have made him get back in the car and took him back to my place. Maybe if I had this wouldn't have happened."

"You don't know that. Shawn could have just gone right back the next day. His parents could have come over to get him and try to charge you with kidnapping. You had no legal right to take Shawn. You can't blame yourself. We have all seen Shawn changing over the last eight months. None of us did anything or pushed him hard enough to get him to talk." Alan said.

"Why couldn't he have just said something? Shawn's been in pain and sick for the last five months at least. Why couldn't he have just said something?" Cory asked.

"This isn't easy for someone to talk about or to admit to. Shawn is probably feeling a lot of things right now and he doesn't know how to deal with them. We don't know what his parents have said to him or has him believing. He could be thinking that he deserved all of this. We need to talk to him and see how he is feeling and why he didn't say anything." Turner said.

"What is important to remember is that this is not Shawn's fault. He did nothing wrong and his parents are the ones to blame for all of this. His parents have probably filled his head with lies about how he deserved what they did to him. Shawn was abused and that will have a great effect on Shawn's mental health. We need to be careful that Shawn doesn't downward spiral or hurt himself." Mr. Feeney said.

"Shawn wouldn't hurt himself." Cory said in Shawn's defence.

"We're not saying that Shawn would. We don't know how bad the abuse was on his mental health. Shawn might not be able to handle it and his parents being arrested. All George is saying is that we need to keep a close eye on Shawn and make sure he is healing from this." Amy said.

"What are we going to say to him tonight?" Eric asked.

"Nothing about this. He's going to be exhausted and with the concussion he will be confused. Tonight just tell him you are here for him and that you care. That's all he will be able to handle." Turner said.

"Tomorrow we can come back in the afternoon once he's gotten some sleep, to speak to him then." Alan said.

Detective Conner and Miss. Wilson came into the waiting room and headed over to them.

"How is he?" Turner asked.

"He was very tired and confused. We weren't able to really speak to him about everything. He didn't admit to the abuse. When we asked he just said that his parents love him and treat him right; that they treat him as he deserves to be treated. I asked if his parents had ever hit him and he said no. I asked if his parents ever punished him and he said that all bad children get punished to learn how to be good. He wouldn't talk about the punishments or how many there were. He wouldn't say much about it at all. He's extremely tired and cold. So tomorrow we will come back and speak to him further and see what he has to say once he's gotten some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow he will be in better shape to talk about this." Detective Conner said.

"I spoke to Shawn very quickly about how he felt about you Mr. Turner and how he felt towards living with you." Miss. Wilson said.

"What did he say?" Turner asked.

"He said you were great. He said he liked living with you and that he missed living with you. He also said that he always felt safe with you, but he couldn't do that to you again." Miss. Wilson said.

"Do what to me?" Turner asked confused.

"He said he couldn't disrupt your life again. That you had your life back and he couldn't continue to ruin and complicate your life. He said he wasn't a good son and until he figured out how to be one he belonged with his parents. They are teaching him how to be a good son." Miss. Wilson said sadly.

"Bastards." Alan said with anger.

"You can't tell me they aren't abusing him. He might not have admitted it out right, but he did admit it with other things he's said. He's covered in bruises and lashes and just said that his parents are teaching him how to be a good son. Surely you can see that he is being abused." Turner said with anger.

Shawn actually thought he wasn't a good son and that what his parents were doing was teaching him how to be a good son. He was being abused and they turned that against him to have him believe that he deserved it. Shawn was an amazing kid and he didn't deserve anything that his parents did to him. He was a good son and Turner never wanted someone to be his son more than he did Shawn.

"I will be going to arrest his parents and bringing them down to the station. I will be going with Officer Riley as a witness just in case something does happen or they say something. Miss. Wilson will be listening to the interview to gather the information that she needs. We are working this as a child abuse case and hopefully Shawn will be able to admit to what his parents have done to him. We still don't know if it is both or just his father. Right now they will both be arrested for child abuse; that might change to only Chet Hunter depending on what Shawn has to say." Detective Conner said.

"He will also be taking pictures of the trailer to see what condition the home is in." Miss. Wilson said.

"I would like to spend the night with Shawn. Doctor Roberts said I should check with you both first." Turner said.

"I don't see a problem with it. Shawn really does need someone to be with him tonight. I will speak to my supervisor tonight about you getting temporary custody of Shawn. I don't think it'll be a problem especially after what Shawn said about living with you. Living with you really would be the best place for him. Doctor Roberts told us about Shawn's injuries and the brain damage. I'm assuming he told you all as well." Miss. Wilson said.

"He did explain everything to us." Amy said.

"Shawn will need a lot of help in the next few months physically and with his schoolwork. Are you prepared and able to provide that help?" Miss. Wilson asked Turner.

"Like I said I am a teacher and I am capable of helping Shawn with school work. I will be able to take six months off work so I can be there every day to help Shawn with all of the healing." Turner answered.

"Good he's going to need someone constant in his life. There will be a lot of mental and emotional problems from this. Shawn needs to understand that what his parents did to him wasn't his fault and it wasn't right. It might take a long time before Shawn is okay with everything that happened." Miss. Wilson said.

"Shawn might not have a lot of family, but we're a good family. We will be there for Shawn through all of this." Alan said.

"I have no doubt about that. I'll need to see your place Mr. Turner, its protocol and my supervisor will want a report about it. I'll be coming in once Shawn is in your care once a month to check in on him. Again it's all protocol especially with abuse cases." Miss. Wilson said.

"That's fine. I have nothing to hide." Turner said.

"We will see you all tomorrow and let you know if anything comes up. Shawn is on the third floor in room 318. Have a good night." Detective Conner said.

"Thank-you for all your help." Mr. Feeney said.

"We're just doing our jobs." Detective Conner said.

Detective Conner and Miss. Wilson left them in the waiting room to go and take care of Chet and Virna. It was well almost midnight and they were all exhausted, but the fact that they could finally see Shawn had them all wide awake. They all headed to the elevator not wanting to wait any longer. On the way up Alan spoke.

"Cory, Eric, remember do not talk to Shawn about what happened. He's exhausted and in pain the last thing he needs is us drilling questions at him. We are just going to see him and then we will leave for the night so he can rest. We will come back tomorrow to see him and speak to him then." Alan said in a serious father voice.

"We won't dad I just want to see him." Cory said.

They got off on the third floor and headed down the hall to room 318. The room door was closed and Turner took a second to take a breath before he opened the door to see Shawn in bed. Shawn was lying on his right side and he was shivering. He was wearing a long sleeved hospital shirt and hospital pants. He had multiple blankets on him to try and get him warm and he had an IV in his right hand. Shawn didn't even turn to see who walked into the room and they thought he was asleep. Turner walked closer to the bed and called Shawn's name out gently.

"Shawn."

Shawn turned his head to look over to see Turner, the Mathews and Mr. Feeney walking around to that side of the bed. Shawn was in a room by himself so there was lots of room for everyone. Shawn was covered in bruises and his left cheek had a small piece of gauze to cover the stitches. He looked exhausted and in so much pain. Turner sat down in one of the chairs next to the bed. He was going to be there all night and he didn't want Shawn to think he was going anywhere.

"Hey" Shawn's voice was weak and just exhausted.

"How you feeling buddy?" Cory asked.

"Fine" Shawn weakly answered.

"Shawn we just wanted to come by and see you before we go home. We'll be back tomorrow to see you." Alan said.

"Do you need anything sweetie?" Amy asked.

"No thanks." Shaw said softly.

"Shawn I just want you to rest and not worry about school. We can worry about that later. Just rest and focus on getting better for now." Mr. Feeney said.

"I'm tired." Shawn said softly.

"We're going to get going. We will come by tomorrow and see you Shawn. Get some sleep." Alan said.

"I'll see you tomorrow Shawny." Cory said sadly.

"Get some rest Mr. Hunter." Mr. Feeney said.

They all filed out of the room and Shawn was surprised that Turner didn't leave. Shawn figured that it showed on his face, because Turner explained.

"I'm not leaving you Shawn. I'm going to sit here all night with you. You can sleep or we can talk all night or we can just sit here in silence, but I'm not going anywhere." Turner said with care in his voice.

"Why?" Shawn asked with confusion in his voice.

"Because I care about you Shawn. Shawn I love you. It's killing me to see you like this, but I'm not going anywhere, because I love you. I would never hurt you, I would never say mean things to you; I would never neglect and starve you. Do you know why I wouldn't do any of those things Shawn?" Turner asked gently.

Shawn gently shook his head no.

"Because I love you. Because I would love for you to be my son and live with me. I would love to adopt you and keep you safe. I would do all of that because I love you. That's what you do with people you love. You don't hurt them and you don't put them in the hospital."

"You can't love me." Shawn said in a sad pathetic voice as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

Turner reached out and grabbed Shawn's left hand.

"Why not Shawn?" Turner asked softly.

Shawn looked down as he spoke and a few more tears came down his bruised face.

"Because I'm not good enough for my own parents to love me, so you can't."

More tears came down Shawn's face and Turner could actually feel his own heart breaking at Shawn's words.

"Shawn, they are the ones not good enough for you. They don't deserve you Shawn. They are nothing, but trash. You are an amazing kid. You don't deserve what they did to you and I don't care if I have to tell you every hour of the day until you believe that then I will. Shawn you did nothing wrong. What they did to you was wrong and you deserve so much better. I love you Shawn. I love you as if you were my son." Turner said softly.

"No one's ever told me they loved me before." Shawn said through the tears.

Turner took his free hand and moved it to stroke the hair out of Shawn's face.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to get through this together I promise you. I'm not going anywhere." Turner said softly while he stroked Shawn's hair.

"I don't want to go back there." Shawn said shakily.

"You are never going back there I promise. You are coming home where you belong."

"Everything hurts. I'm so tired, but I can't sleep it hurts too much."

"It's okay. Do you want me to call a nurse in? She might be able to give you something more for the pain."

Shawn just gave a small nod. Turner hit the call button on the side of the bed for a nurse to come. After a couple minutes a nurse walked into the room.

"Are you okay Shawn?" She asked sweetly.

"He's in a lot of pain. I know he's on T3's, but it's not working enough for him tonight. Is there anything you can give him?" Turner asked.

The nurse moved closer to the bed to look and speak to Shawn better.

"Shawn on a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, how bad is the pain?"

"Nine." Shawn said through gritted teeth.

His whole body hurt and he couldn't understand why. He had been through a beating before and yet this one seemed to hurt ten times worse.

"I can give him a small dosage of morphine. We don't tend to because of his age, but the pain that he is in is high. So I can give him just a small dosage and see if that helps with the pain. It can make him a little out of it and tired. So with any luck he should just sleep the night away and most of tomorrow." The nurse said to Turner.

"Ok"

The nurse left to go and get the morphine. They didn't keep narcotics in the patient's room for the obvious reasons of someone stealing them. Turner continued to stroke Shawn's hair as they waited for the nurse to come.

"I don't feel good. Why is this time like this?" Shawn asked.

"Shawn did the doctor explain any of your injuries?"

"No"

"Okay, Shawn you were hurt pretty badly and you are very sick. It's going to take a month or so before you are healthy again. So for the next month you will have days where you don't feel too great, but it's going to be okay because I'll be there for you through all of this. All you have to do is tell the truth and you will never be hurt again or have to live there. Okay?"

"If I tell the truth I won't have to go back to the trailer?"

"I promise you won't have to Shawn ever again. You are coming home with me where you belong. We're gonna get you healthy again."

The nurse came back into the room with a needle ready in her hand. She went over to Shawn's IV line and spoke as she injected the morphine.

"Okay Shawn this is a small dosage of morphine it's going to help with the pain. It's most likely going to put you to sleep so don't worry it's normal and perfectly fine."

"Thank-you." Turner said.

The nurse disposed of the needle in the yellow sharps box before leaving the room. Turner continued to stroke Shawn's hair as the morphine kicked in.

"Go to sleep Shawn. I'll be right here when you wake up. I love you." Turner said softly.

Shawn's eyes closed and Turner knew that now he would be able to sleep through the pain and start to get his body better. There was a long road ahead of them, but Turner was ready for the fight.


End file.
